The Executive commitment to legislate to extend the period for litigation by owners of defective property is welcome, but it must be designed to allow Victoria Square owners to resume their action, South Belfast MLA and Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole has said.

The Communities Minister today pledged to introduce new legislation to increase the so-called ‘limitation period’ in the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 in line with the extension in England and Wales, allowing claims for 30 years rather than only six.

Mr O’Toole has consistently called for the proposed legislative change but has been clear that the new law must specifically be designed to allow Victoria Square owners to restart the legal action against the building’s developers recently rejected in the High Court.

Matthew O’Toole MLA said:

“I have called consistently for action to address this anomaly and so I welcome the Minister’s statement today and the work which he and his Executive colleagues have done to change the limitation period.

“But since the case that brought this to public attention was that of Victoria Square, it is vital that the new law is specifically designed to allow the Victoria Square owners to restart the legal action that only fell because the law had not been updated.

“I specifically pressed the Minister for clarity on this today and look forward to getting confirmation from him, so that the exhausted and anxious Victoria Square owners can be reassured they will be able to seek proper legal recourse.”