The DUP MP said, “The Victoria Square apartments have been blighted by significant structural issues with residents told to vacate their properties and have been uninhabitable since April 2019 because of safety concerns.
Because defects were not discovered until more than six years after the building has completed the owners are statute barred from securing redress from those responsible. Whilst this is the correct interpretation of the law as it stands, it is morally and practically unsustainable.
Following the Grenfell tragedy, Parliament passed the Building Safety Act which extended this limitation period to 30 years, but that legislation has not been passed in Northern Ireland. There is an urgent need for the Assembly to replicate the provisions of that Act and backdate its provisions to the same time it came into force in England and Wales.
I have met with the representatives of residents affected by this and I recognise the intrinsic unfairness they face. This is not some dry technical issue but is a real and tangible problem where the Assembly can act. There is the ability to deliver for people facing an incredibly bleak situation through no fault of their own.”