Total demolition order for doomed Kettering flats postponed for two months after failure to nominate contractor

The enforced total demolition of a six-storey apartment building in the centre of Kettering has been delayed after its site owner – and builder – failed to nominate a contractor.

Marcus Fielding, Michigan Construction Ltd’s sole director and chief builder of the Job’s Yard development, was ordered in 2023 to find a demolition company.

The timetable for demolition was set out at High Court’s Technology & Construction Court in Birmingham with the building having to be removed by February 28, 2024.

Mr Fielding has now been given an extra two months by the High Court to nominate a demolition contractor after a request by planning authority North Northants Council (NNC).

Cllr Jason Smithers, leader of NNC, said: “On January 5, the court amended its order to extend the time period for demolition to April 26. This was previously February 28.“The council has been continuing its efforts to get the site owner to nominate a demolition contractor. If the site owner fails to do so, the council will need to consider next steps, which could involve exercising step-in powers to demolish the building in default.”

Back in November as well as paying for a third party to demolish the building, Her Honour Judge Sarah Watson ordered Mr Fielding to liaise with NNC to find a ‘responsible’ contractor and to pay costs.

The demolition was estimated to take about a week per floor with Michigan Construction Ltd left to find the contractor and ‘do the leg work’.

Mr Fielding had been ordered to pay costs of £80,000 and had been left with the demolition bill.