£175,000 shock for residents
FLAT RESIDENTS HIT WITH HUGE BILL – WITH FIRST PAYMENT DUE ON XMAS DAY
HOMEOWNERS have been hit with a £175,000 bill to make their apartment block safe – with the first instalment due on Christmas Day.
RMG, the firm which manages the New Islington Chips building, has sent letters to flat owners demanding they collectively pay up to £2,700 each to avoid being forced to move out.
Bosses have said the cash covers specialist assessment of the cladding following the Grenfell Tower tragedy – which left 80 people dead on June 14 and sparked a nationwide investigation into residential blocks.
The management company says the money will also fund 24-hour fire wardens over six months and minor building ‘alterations’ – which they describe as requirements ‘enforced by the fire service and Manchester council.’
The invoice will not pay for the replacement of cladding at the complex, which has 142 apartments and opened in 2009.
The first residents knew of the charge was when the bills landed on their doormats last week. They claim there was no prior consultation.
Eric Stone, 70, is among residents now threatening legal action.
The retired flooring firm boss, who has lived at Chips for nearly two years, has been billed more than £2,600.
He said: “This has made me ill with worry, it’s so shocking. This is not in my budget, I don’t have this money.
“It should surely be the developers putting money towards this. We already pay a very high maintenance charge – I pay £2,300 a year.
“For us to be now asked for all this extra money out of the blue, we just feel it’s unjustified.”
Residents who own their flats already fork out an annual average of £1,800 for maintenance as well as around £800 a year for parking, plus £250 for the lease.
First-time buyer Fay Northcott, 25, moved into the Urban Splash-built and owned building two years ago.
Her bill demands she pay £1,637.11, with three instalments to be collected by direct debit. The first payment of £545 is due by December 25.
Emma, who works as a business analyst, said: “It’s extortionate. We don’t understand what we are actually paying for as the Government hasn’t released any regulations yet.
“It already costs me a tenth of my annual salary in fees to live here. We were not consulted on this and we’ve been given hardly any notice – and the first payment’s due on Christmas Day which is cruel.”
Justin Herbert, operations director at RMG, said the costs would ensure the ‘continued safety and wellbeing’ of residents, and the fire wardens were required by the fire service.
He said residents had been kept informed throughout. They had complied with the Landlord and Tenant act in terms of consultation, he added. He said: “The decision to employ fire marshalls was not taken lightly. If we had not employed wardens the likely outcome would have been an instruction from the authorities to vacate the blocks.”
He accepted the charge would be a ‘heavy burden’ on leaseholders but said they were doing all they could to minimise costs and ensure the building was safe.
A claim has been made on the Build Warranty, he said, in a bid to recover ‘some or all costs.’
“We sympathise with the owners and will continue to support them through this process and minimise the additional costs,” he added.
A spokesman for Urban Splash said: “We have taken an active part of the post-Grenfell review of Chips, working with the new owners and building managers, RMG, as we have across our portfolio and we will continue to do so.”
He said the site had full approvals and certificates when it was built in 2009, adding: “Post-Grenfell, RMG have been working within the requirements of the Greater Manchester Fire Service and local authority, which has led to the need for additional mitigation to the building, as is the case on many high-rise buildings within Manchester and other cities.” Resident Eric Stone