OAP faces eviction over £17k cladding bill
Flats fire safety nightmare for Eileen, 67
PENSIONER Eileen Maxwell has been threatened with eviction after being caught up in Britain’s building cladding scandal.
She is among 300,000 over-65s whose retirement dreams are in tatters because their flats failed fire safety checks after the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017.
Flammable cladding inspections following the West London inferno that killed 72 have spiralled into a wider safety scandal with a catalogue of fire risks being uncovered.
Around 3.2 million leaseholders are affected and 1.3 million flats are now unmortgageable.
Pensioners who own and live in retirement block apartments or who invested in buy-to-let flats are among those left in limbo – with many being forced back to work. Eileen, 67, was threatened with eviction for failing to pay a £17,300 bill to fix fire safety flaws at her flats block in Poole, Dorset.
The mum of one bought a two-bed apartment in the Aqua building for
£200,000 in 2018 – unaware it had non-compliant cladding and problems with cavity barriers between walls.
It could cost £4.3million to fix – with leaseholders liable if the Government’s
Building Safety Fund does not cover them.
Eileen’s slice of the bill was issued in her annual service charge by Aqua’s property managers on behalf of the freeholder. They said: “Our client reserves all its rights, including the right to commence proceedings to take possession of the property and/or to obtain a court judgment requiring you to pay the debt, plus interest and costs.”
Eileen, who still works as a part-time administrator, said: “I don’t have £17,000 and at my age I can’t just get a loan or a mortgage.
“If they let me pay in instalments it still means carrying on having to work and never being able to enjoy retirement.”
Eileen’s daughter Holly, 35, said: “It’s shocking that someone can own their flat outright and still be threatened with the prospect of eviction. Mum’s health has really been affected. She
loves her flat but she can’t even sell it because it’s technically worthless.”
Recently married Holly fears she may have to provide financial help – putting on hold her plan to raise a family.
Freemont Property Management said: “Aqua has fire safety issues requiring remediation. We are hopeful that we will secure funding from the Building Safety Fund for a significant part of the work.
“Some elements of the project however are not covered by government funding. The freeholder has no wish to invoke forfeiture of properties and is doing everything possible to avoid this.”
Builders Linden Homes, now known as Vistry, said Aqua met fire safety obligations at the time of completion.
A government spokesman said Housing Secretary Michael Gove was “looking afresh” at the issue of “excessive bills” for leaseholders.