Celebrity Manicurist Paid £730,000 Due to Damp in Chiswick House
Luxury new-build plagued with problems since 2015
Leighton Denny. Picture: Twitter
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June 25, 2023
A celebrity nail artist has won a £730,000 payout out after a legal battle over damp in his designer Chiswick house.
49-year-old Leighton Denny, who has a client list that includes Kate Moss, Adele, Penelope Cruz and Joan Collins had been plagued with problems in the property he bought in 2015.
Built on the site of a former car showroom, it had been transformed into what he thought at the time was his dream home by an upmarket property developer who regularly appears on TV.
However, chronic damp was discovered and Mr Denny, who was awarded an MBE for services to the beauty industry the year before he bought the house, found that the cost of dealing with the problem, which made the house unfit to live in, was around half of what he had originally paid for the property.
He sued Kam Babaee, the high-profile property developer who has appeared on a number of reality TV shows about house conversion and had overseen the building of the house.
Kam Baebee. Picture: Instagram
At a hearing in April at the High Court, Mr Denny was awarded £549,773.90 damages and £180,000 in costs by Judge Richard Pearce. This will be payable by Mr Babaee and his development company K10 Developments Ltd, which is described on its web site as ‘a bespoke ultra-prime residential developer'.
Mr Denny said that the house had been built with fundamental defects and had taken legal action against the builders over breach of contract although this case was dropped.
A further judgement was made this week which made Mr Babaee liable for costs on an indemnity basis meaning that the total payable is likely to increase further. Mr Babaee had made an application for the cost award against him to be reduced because Mr Denny had changed the amount he was claiming during the case but the judge ruled there was no evidence that the reduction had resulted in extra expense for Mr Babaee.
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