The centre was bought by Fordgate Midland Properties Limited in January 1989 but a dispute arose about the property's condition at the time of sale. The previous owners, Grosvenor, had contracted with Laing to encapsulate asbestos in the roof voids and decontaminate those areas in 1988. This became the source of legal disputes between the three parties since Fordgate alleged that Grosvenor had, in the words of Lord Justice Saville, "fraudulently or negligently misrepresented the true condition of the premises so that the Appellants were induced to purchase the premises, believing them to contain treated and encapsulated asbestos when, in fact, the roof voids were dreadfully...contaminated with loose asbestos fibre".