Flat owners facing huge repair bills
RESIDENTS of Wales’ tallest apartment building have been told they must pay thousands of pounds by the end of this month after multiple safety defects were discovered.
More than 200 leaseholders in Swansea’s Meridian Tower plus nearby buildings Meridian Bay and Meridian Wharf have been sent demands by management company CRM Residential after fire proofing defects were discovered at the site.
CRM has written to those living in the buildings to say they must find thousands of pounds within weeks to foot the bill for the multi-million pound repairs.
Those living in a one-bedroom home have been told to pay £12,296; those in a two-bedroom flat £21,435, and those in a three-bedroom home have been asked to meet the £39,379 costs.
It comes after Swansea Council issued formal Improvement Notices to the Meridian Quay Management Company directors, according to a letter from CRM to leaseholders seen by the Western Mail.
The legally binding move compels them to remedy the defects that exist in the Bay and Wharf blocks.
All work must start by October, with residents asked to pay their share by the end of September.
The demand comes after building firm Carillion, which was behind the huge building project, collapsed.
The construction giant – then the UK’s second-largest building firm – went into liquidation in 2018 with liabilities of more than £7bn. It employed around 20,000 people in the UK.
The CRM management group is now seeking to claim at least part of the cost of the repairs from the leaseholders, claiming the cost is a service charge item.But the move has left some of the 200-plus residents fearing they won’t be able to find the substantial sum within the required timeframe.
One resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: “This will send a lot of people into financial disarray. A lot of people are burying their heads in the sand. The council and the fire service
should be working closer to try to help out.
“It’s very stressful, but I am more angry. Some of the older people are just panicking and getting loans and things.
“They are being told to just put it on credit cards.”
The defects consist of “defective compartmentation between apartments and defective firebreaks on the external facade of the buildings”, according to the management company.
It is not known if the defects are in any way comparable to those which caused the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people in June 2017.
But investigation works into the issue have found that remedial works should be carried out “as a matter of priority”, according to CRM. It is claimed the local authority will take enforcement action under the Housing Act if the works are not addressed.
The resident said: “There are a lot of unanswered questions. To me, Swansea council should be trying to help out.”
He said he believed the works were going to cost between £5m and £6m.
Another leaseholder, Russell Jones, who owns a buy-to-let flat in Meridian Wharf, said he didn’t know how he was going to find the money to meet CRM’s demand.
Mr Jones, a 62-year-old retired nurse who lives in the Townhill area of Swansea said he had paid the usual maintenance payment, but still had to find an extra £8,000.
He said next year it was likely a similar sum would be required, as this year’s payment only covered the Bay and Wharf charges, and not the Meridian Tower. He believed about 70% of the leaseholders had mortgages.
A spokesman for CRM Residential, the managing agents for the development, said: “We are not authorised to respond to your queries or make any public comment.”
Swansea council has been asked to comment.