Steve Morgan CBE, founder and chairman of Redrow Homes, has accepted a High Court apology and damages from the publisher of the Daily Mail over an article alleging that he took advantage of an opportunity to purchase six houses built by his company that were intended to be sold to less-well-off buyers as affordable homes.
Morgan (pictured) sued over the August 2017 article in the Daily Mail headlined “Building tycoons using staff discounts to snap up homes meant for families”, published on the Mail Online website under the longer headline “Millionaire building tycoons using staff discounts to snap up homes meant for families: Chiefs accused of ‘unethical practices’ for taking advantage of staff perks to build property empires”.
The article made various allegations concerning Morgan and his purchase of a number of properties built by Redrow Homes at its development at Stretton Green, Cheshire.
In particular, it alleged that he took advantage of an opportunity to purchase six houses built by his company at a substantial discount, £860,000 against a market value of £2.1m, when they were intended to be sold as affordable homes.
Morgan’s solicitor, Matt Himsworth, said: “The article alleged that in doing so Mr Morgan had exploited his position to line his own pockets in a greedy, unethical and morally unacceptable way. For good measure, the article also claimed that he was charging at least £640 a month in rent for each one.”
However, he said, these allegations were “false”, adding: “In fact, the price paid by Mr Morgan for the six properties was the highest offer that was made. The properties were not on the market for £350,000 each as claimed, or anything like that sum, and he did not purchase them at a substantial discount to their market value. Further, the properties remain at all times subject to affordable housing obligations and are all being rented out to local residents in accordance with affordable housing criteria, some of them for substantially less than £640 per month.”
Himsworth said that Associated Newspapers had refused to offer a correction or apology, leading Morgan to issue proceedings for libel, but that the parties had now agreed a settlement of the claim. The publisher has agreed to pay Morgan a “substantial sum” by way of damages, which he will donate, in full, to charitable causes.
He added: “For Mr Morgan’s part, these allegations struck at the heart of his personal integrity and dignity. The claimant has a strong sense of social responsibility. He recognises that he is now in a fortunate position – the success he has had with his businesses means that he is a wealthy man and he has felt a strong desire, for a long time now, to put back into the local communities where he grew up and continues to live, through his charitable work and his foundation, the Steve Morgan Foundation. The article flew in the face of his philanthropic purpose in life, caused him immense anger and distress. The suggestion that he would greedily chisel financial advantages for himself at the expense of low-income families was deeply insulting to him.”
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