‘This will completely ruin us...’
RESIDENTS FACE BILLS OF UP TO £19K EACH TO REMOVE CLADDING
RESIDENTS of a tower block which owners claim is akin to a ‘five-star hotel’ have been told they will have to pay up to £19,000 EACH to remove flammable cladding from the building.
Those living in the Skyline Central Apartments, in Ancoats, received bills from management company Rendall and Rittner recently requesting they fork out thousands of pounds to fix defective cladding which could make a fire spread quickly across the block.
An independent survey of the building showed it had problems including badly fitted and deteriorating cladding panels and missing fire barriers, or stops, in the cavities behind the cladding.
The issue of defective cladding gained worldwide attention following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in which 71 people lost their lives.
In a letter to leaseholders from managing company Rendall and Rittner seen by the M.E.N., the total anticipated costs of the works exceeded £2m.
This was to be divided between leaseholders according to the square footage of each flat.
Rendall and Rittner, which also manages Beetham Tower, are claiming £34,000 of this £2m as a ‘consultation and resident liaison fee.’ The cladding of the building is not made of Aluminium Composite Material, which was found in Grenfell Tower.
However following the tragedy an investigation was carried out into Skyline 1, and the cladding was found to be defective.
Gary Williams, who lives in a one-bedroom flat, received a bill of £14,451.08.
He said: “I’m lucky, some other apartments have been quoted at £19,000 – the bigger the apartment the more you are asked to pay. We do not know what will happen if we don’t pay it.
“We live in tower blocks with Grenfell-style cladding – and we’re in a perpetual state of fear
“They sent out the bill on a Friday afternoon. A lot of the residents have got together to fight this.”
Mr Williams added that he had wanted to sell his flat, but says he would now struggle to do so as nobody would want an apartment with an additional £14,451 bill.
Natalie Findlay, who is a leaseholder and a landlord of one of the apartments, was billed £13,480.86 to fix her cladding.
She said: “It’s ridiculous. We don’t have that kind of money in our account. If we have to pay that I will struggle to pay my taxes. It will completely ruin us.”
She also claimed that although she won’t, some landlords will simply increase their tenants’ rent to cover the costs.
“The fact that Rendall and Rittner are charging us a consultation fee is outrageous - all these companies are now raking in the cash on it,” she added.
Coun Suzanne Richards, Manchester council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, said charging residents for cladding was ‘completely unfair.’
“We will be meeting the residents of the property as soon as possible to discuss their situation and how we can support them.”
A spokesman from Rendall & Rittner said: “We take fire safety and the safety of our residents very seriously and since the tragic Grenfell incident in June 2017, have assessed all buildings within our portfolio. Due to the age of the building, the 10-year warranty has expired and the buildings insurance does not cover these works.”
A spokesman for HomeGround, the freeholder of Skyline 1, said: “HomeGround is very conscious that the cost of these works to owner occupiers who are leaseholders living in their own flats may present a financial burden; and it is for this reason that Rendall and Rittner have been given flexibility to offer payment plans to such leaseholders should they be facing difficulty in paying.
“The replacement of the cladding is work that the leaseholders of Skyline 1 are obliged to pay for under the terms of each of their individual leases.”