Homeless fear in cladding scandal
Cities’ block residents face massive bills
We don’t know the cost... it’d be gut-wrenching to
leave home
HUNDREDS of families caught up in the post-grenfell fire safety crisis may have to quit their homes.
Around 400 people in Liverpool hit with rocketing service charges face having to leave an iconic development.
And in Manchester surveyors warn the exterior walls of five blocks in a housing complex must be rebuilt – with leaseholders liable for the astronomical repair bills.
Yesterday, one leaseholder told the Sunday People: “We are terrified.”
These flats are just some of the four million affected by the cladding crisis following the 2017 Grenfell fire, which killed 72. Thousands of leaseholders face typical repair bills of £40,000.
There are a raft of safety issues at the Royal Quay development on Liverpool’s waterfront, which features 200 flats in seven blocks.
Leaseholders’ service charges have soared from £271,000 in 2020 to £957,000 this year. It includes a 700% hike in building insurance and £250,000 for waking-watch patrols and fire alarms. But there is also an estimated £7million repair bill that could be passed on to leaseholders.
Flat owners face eviction if the charges go unpaid. A letter from Royal Quay directors said: “If we are unable to pay waking-watch costs and insurance premiums, Royal Quay will have to be shut through the issue of a prohibition notice by Merseyside Fire and Rescue. Everyone will have to leave.”
Another document said “initial discussions have taken place” with the site’s managing agents “on how [it] may need to be closed”.
Merseyside fire chiefs said there were “currently no plans” to issue a prohibition notice but safety audits are planned for the near future.
The Government’s Building Safety Fund has £5billion to fix dangerous cladding but does not apply to buildings under 18 metres, which affects five Royal Quay blocks. And there is no guarantee it will pay for the full range of fire safety defects. Meanwhile, at St George’s Island, in the Castlefield area of Manchester, 400 leaseholders fear six-figure bills after five towers failed safety checks. Surveyors warn the work “requires the external wall to be removed in its entirety”.
Residents face being rehomed and repair bills are likely to run into millions.
Daniel Strickland and fiancée Magda, 23, bought a flat for £220,000 in 2018. The civil servant, 29, said: “The prospect of leaving our home is gut-wrenching. We don’t know how much remedial work will cost. Anything substantial and we will be in hot water.”
Leaseholders will apply to the Building Safety Fund. But Tamsin Flood, 27, who paid £165,000 for her home, said: “We are terrified even if we do get funding it won’t cover all of the remediation. The unfunded costs are likely to fall on leaseholders and still be catastrophic.”
And medical writer Anna Longjaloux, 30, who bought her flat for £173,000 in 2016, added: “I’m stuck, unable to sell and daren’t think of how much it could cost to sort things out. I feel I’m just waiting on my savings to be taken away. As a taxpayer, I expect my Government to protect me from situations like this but the response so far has been woeful.”
An amendment to stop leaseholders being saddled with fire safety bills will go before the Commons a second time tomorrow. MPS previously voted in favour of a Government motion to reject it.
Directors at Royal Quay say in a letter residents will have “to live with family or rent elsewhere” if the site shuts.
Those made homeless with nowhere to turn would have to apply for emergency council housing.
Mainstay, which looks after Royal Quay for a resident management firm, said the blocks’ developer and freeholders had been approached but “none have been able to help”. A spokesman added: “We are doing all we can to support homeowners and residents.”
UK Cladding Action Group said: “Leaseholders shouldn’t have to live with fear of whether their home is safe.”
A Government housing spokesman said: “We have written to residents of Royal Quay to confirm the Waking Watch Relief Fund will be used to install alarms in buildings that meet eligibility.
“We are also working with the building agents over their application to our Building Safety Fund.”