Developer to reimburse residents for tower evacuations but does not admit liability

Galliard has confirmed it will reimburse costs for residents impacted by the evacuation of several towers in east London due to structural safety concerns.

A total of five towers in the Caxton Works/Royal Gateway scheme, completed by Galliard in 2018, have been evacuated over the past few weeks, with Newham Council serving Dangerous Structural Notices for three of the buildings.

The scheme was designed by Studio Egret West and Tooley & Foster Partnership, the latter of which went into liquidation between 2024 and 2025.

On Thursday, Galliard Homes issued a statement recognising the “significant disruption” to the community in Canning Town and confirming it would reimburse residents for “reasonable relocation and temporary accommodation costs.”

“Alongside this, we are monitoring the buildings and working with specialist engineers to investigate the concerns and develop potential solutions,” it said.

“It is too early to determine the extent or cause of the concerns identified.

“We have shared a proposed roadmap with the relevant parties and are committed to carrying out any works needed to make the buildings safe, following independent review and the necessary approvals, so that residents can return home safely and as soon as possible.”

Evacuations began on 23 October, when roughly 211 households were removed in the early hours of the morning from three buildings - Centurion Tower, St Vincent Court and Sovereign Tower - which together comprise the ‘North Buildings’ on the site.

These are the three buildings on which Newham council subsequently served Dangerous Structural Notices.

A further two buildings, Thanet Tower and Prince Court, were evacuated on 30 October. This pair comprises the ‘South Buildings’.

Galliard said the interim support would “cover costs incurred from 23 October for the North Buildings and 30 October for the South Buildings, up to and including 19 November 2026”.

“We will write to residents again before then to confirm the arrangements from that date onwards,” it said, adding that the support was provided “without admission of liability”.

Residents will need proof of costs and reimbursements will take account of amounts paid by insurers or other sources.

Newham Council, which is the freehold owner of the land on which Royal Gateway was built, has been coordinating the emergency response to the evacuations.

The land is subject to 250-year headleases held by Caxton Works Development Limited, which is part-owned by Galliard.

Galliard encouraged residents to contact Prime Property Management with “day-to-day questions about the management of the buildings”.

Developer Cathedral, which obtained the original planning permission for the site, sold its headlease on the site in 2018. Cathedral merged into U+I in 2015, which was bought by Landsec in 2021.

 Studio Egret West and Prime Property Management have not responded to outstanding request for comment from Building Design’s sister title Housing Today.