Westmorland and Furness Council has awarded another £830,000 in urgent repair contracts for its problem-plagued Voreda House — the £8.5 million “state-of-the-art” office that has been beset by failures since opening.
The notice of the award of the two contracts was issued late on Friday (20th March) without any competitive tender for the contracts, with the council saying the direct awards were needed to get staff back into the building quickly.
One deal, worth £427,713.74, was awarded to Top Notch Contractors Limited to fix a defective water pipe blamed for major flooding.
A second contract, costing £401,661.37, has been awarded to Cubby Construction Limited to tackle blocked sewer pipes after foul water flooded the ground floor.
The latest cash injection comes after a catalogue of problems at the building — including sewage pouring down stairwells, across carpets and into the lift shaft — forcing toilet closures and the installation of portable loos outside.
In September 2025, the building was shut for a week after a plumbing failure caused extensive flooding. Six months later, the first floor is still closed.
Originally expected to cost just £2 million, the project spiralled to £8.5 million. Despite this, council auditors Grant Thornton valued the building at just £2.305 million in June 2024.
Earlier this year, a further £36,000 contract was awarded to manage the repair works — pushing costs even higher.
The council has said it will try to claw back money from third parties, but has refused to reveal the total cost of fixing the building so far.
Work is now expected to continue until at least April or May 2026 — meaning yet more disruption at the already troubled site.
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