Bulldog Properties in £2m High Court row

Financial specialists IPM Personal Pension Trustees have issued a £2m writ against Bulldog Properties.

The dispute centres around a site at Ventura Park in Carterton, Oxfordshire, and IPM claims delays in finishing services and a road meant the price of its 15 light industrial units dropped by more than £1m.

According to the writ, Bulldog Properties provided water, gas and electricity to the site three months late, and did not finish the road surface to the local authority’s satisfaction until September 2009, 18 months late.

IPM says that as a result prices dropped, and it has received offers for the units at £80 a sq ft, whereas it would have been able to sell the units at £105 a sq ft if the work had been finished on time.

The units were ready for sale from January 2008, but could not be sold because of the uncompleted road, according to a High Court writ. This cost an extra £170,871.81 in finance costs, £33,000 for extending the bonding facility, and the units lost £1,176,125 in value, the writ says.

IPM says it is also entitled to £44,000 for liquidated damages of £4,000 a week for 11 weeks for the delay in finalising services, and puts its total claim at more than £2m.