Irish property company Menolly’s £150m purchase of 107 Cheapside has been delayed by the High Court because of a dispute over its completion.

Menolly has taken Carlyle Group, which was refurbishing the 184,000 sq ft property, to the High Court because it disputes the issuing of a certificate of practical completion, as revealed in Property Week this morning.

This morning Mr Justice Warren delayed completion of the deal pending a trial to be heard on the dispute at a later date.

In a High Court hearing yesterday Menolly said that when the certificate was issued on February 4 the main front of house lifts were not finished and two were not working, the atrium was not finished, work had not been completed on the offices on the third and eight floors, a pump had not been installed and safety systems had not been completed.

The court heard the lifts were not working on 11 February when CB Richard Ellis arrived at the building to show prospective clients office space.

Richard Morgan, for Menolly, said the certificate of practical completion was not valid because it was subject to a 38-page list of defects that had not been completed.

‘Assume my client takes completion of this building,’ he said. ‘How is he going to get this building insured?

‘Realistically this building is not complete and most importantly of all it is not safe.’

Carlyle argued that it had issued the certificate subject to these works being finished, and that the certificate of practical completion was still binding.

Anthony Trace QC, for Carlyle’s subsidiary CEREP, said the court action was a ‘last gasp attempt’ by Menolly to avoid completion of the deal.