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Tower block residents land huge ‘safety’ bill
RESIDENTS in a block of flats at risk of a Grenfell-style disaster are facing a £1.5million bill to make it safe.
Shocked neighbours have been told to pay £20,000 each to replace dangerous cladding.
They will have to fork out the huge amount if an insurance claim fails.
It is another kick in the teeth for the residents – who have lived in fear for months after discovering the building is a potential death trap.
Last September, we revealed how a fire crew was stationed at the building – Nova House in Slough, Berks – 24 hours a day. Council tax payers have had to foot the £2,000-aday cost.
Now, residents have threatened legal action against the “ludicrous” new safety bill, which they say could leave some of them on the street.
Shan Ahmed, 32, who has been hit with a five-figure bill, told The Daily Star Sunday: “It’s a shambles.
“I own not one but two flats in this building. I live in one and the other is rented out.
“They sent me a bill for six months, a service charge of £3,500 with a reserve charge of around £11,500. That’s for six months and that is for only one property. So in the next year they expect me to hand over
£60,000 – I don’t have that money. “I invested in a building that was supposed to be luxury, high-quality, free of all health and safety issues.
“Now we’ve been handed a bill for
1.5million quid and told to pay it because the building is actually a death trap. I am gobsmacked.”
Richard Venables, 53, inset, whose elderly mum invested her life savings in one of the flats, said:
“It is an absolute scandal.
“My 85-year-old mother put all her money into one of these death-trap nest eggs. Now she and many others are expected to pay this ludicrous bill that should not be coming to our doors.
“Meanwhile, the fire wardens and the engine sits outside our front door costing us £2,000 a day.” Pav Pank, 66, used his retirement fund to buy a property in 2015. His daughter also owns one of the new builds, which went on sale for between £185,000 and £300,000. He said: “I hoped that I would spend my retirement there but I don’t know if I will be able to now. There is the fear if you don’t pay you could end up losing everything.” It was reported last year that the cost of replacing the cladding could be met by a claim to the building’s insurers.
We contacted property management company The Ringley Group, which sent out the bills to residents, and block owners Ground Rent Estates 5 Ltd (GRE5). A GRE5 spokesman said that leaseholders would only be liable to pay the costs if a current claim being considered by insurers fails.
The spokesman added: “We understand people’s concerns, however the planned fire safety measures are vital to protect residents.”
Slough Borough Council is currently negotiating to take over the tower block. We can reveal the council is so worried about the risk of a fire breaking out that they disconnected lights on all of its balconies.
In July a flat in 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Kensington, west London, caught fire and flames spread throughout the building. The tragedy is believed to have been caused by flammable cladding.
Since the blaze, in which 71 died, tower blocks across Britain have had similar cladding removed in a bid to prevent further fires.