Durkan Estates Limited v Wallace Estates Limited

Facts

Centrillion Point in Croydon is a former office building which Durkan Estates Limited converted into dwellings in the late 2000s and of which Wallace Estates Limited has been freeholder since 1 May 2014. On 4 January 2024 the First-tier Tribunal made a remediation order against Wallace under section 123 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requiring the relevant defects to be remedied by 31 May 2025. Negotiations followed, Wallace being able to seek a remediation contribution order against Durkan under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022, and on 1 July 2024 the parties entered a Remediation Agreement by which Durkan would remedy the defects at its own cost, with a Completion Date of 19 September 2025 or such other date as was agreed. On 24 June 2025 the tribunal refused Wallace's application to vary the remediation order deadline, no Gateway 2 application having yet been made to the Building Safety Regulator. Two days later Wallace served a termination notice. Wallace then sought a remediation contribution order of £13,586,797.02. Durkan issued these proceedings on 6 February 2026 seeking a declaration that the termination was unlawful and damages; Wallace counterclaimed and applied for reverse summary judgment on the claim and summary judgment on the counterclaim, confined to whether Durkan was in repudiatory or anticipatory breach at common law.