Stephen Squires has felt unsafe in his flat for the last four years and has no option but to stay.
A resident of Britton House in the Green Quarter, Stephen was told during the pandemic that his building would require £3 million of remediation works to remove flammable cladding.
“It’s dreadful. There’s times when you get so angry, upset, it affects your relationships, it affects your friendships. It just has a huge impact on everything that you do. I’ve had sleepless nights. I’ve woken up in the morning angry. I’ve screamed. I’ve cried. It’s just an emotional rollercoaster really,” says Stephen.
Eight years after the Grenfell Tower Fire, Stephen is just one of many residents across Greater Manchester who cannot sell or leave his flat while waiting for remediation to begin.
In September 2024 Andy Burnahm revealed that there were still 157 high rise buildings in need of remediation in Manchester.
Based on the speed at which works are being completed, it could be another 25 years before all the remedial works are finished.
Originally Stephen and the other Britton House residents received invoices. Then in June 2020 the Building Safety Fund was set up by the government to cover the cost of cladding on residential properties over 18 metres high. But in 2023 the developers, Lendlease, were told they have to pay. Works have still yet to begin.
Though Stephen no longer needs to foot the cost of the works, the insurance and service charge have skyrocketed since he bought the flat. He pays more than £3,000 monthly for the insurance, service charge, and ground rent.
He said: “It’s like having a second mortgage.
“The developers, freeholders and managing agents aren’t interested in getting it done quickly. They’re still collecting the service charge and the ground rent but they don’t actually have to live there. They’re not the ones who have to go to bed at night in a building that’s like a box of matches.”
Before the announcement of the Waking Watch Relief Fund in December 2020 which enabled the installment of a full fire alarm, Britton House residents had to pay £20,000 a month for a waking watch.
Stephen added: “The only people who are completely innocent in this are people like myself and my partner who bought a home in good faith thinking ‘we live in England in the United Kingdom, it’s 2013 nobody’s going to sell me a dud house are they?’
“But actually they did.”
The developer Lendlease said: “We’ve always maintained that leaseholders should not be held responsible for the cost of remediation works and we’ve established a dedicated team that works with the Government and building owners to assess and work on any remediation works that we might be responsible for.
“At Britton House there was a delay in completion of design surveys, but the remediation design is now well progressed. The managing agents of the building are keeping residents informed and we’ll ensure they’re made aware as soon as the programme of work has been signed off.
“All remediation works also now have to be pre-approved by the Building Safety Regulator, which is currently increasing the overall programme for works by a minimum of three months.”
Throughout this process Stephen has received advice from Manchester Cladiators, a voluntary group representing the residents of buildings across Greater Manchester with dangerous cladding systems and serious internal fire safety issues.
Giles Grover, a founding member of the group, is also unhappy with the rate of remediation.
He said: “The interests of the civil service and the politicians are always about industry and business rather than the people who actually live in the flats.
“We get 100 emails a month, easily. People should be able to feel safe in their homes.
“Keir Starmer has said he’ll do all he can and he’ll use Grenfell as a touchstone for what his government must do. Now we need to see that translate to action on the ground, because we’ve had about seven years of warm words that haven’t really led anywhere.
“Number one, it’s not just London. Number two, it’s not even just the big cities. I’m dealing with someone in Sutherland. I’ve got somebody in Lancaster. There’s buildings all across the country.”
Despite widespread delays, some buildings have now been fully remediated.
Andrew Brook is both a resident and a director of Market Buildings in the Northern Quarter, a building that has now been fully remediated. He is also a member of Manchester Cladiators.
He said: “We’re a bit of a support network for each other, really, as well as doing the actual lobbying.”
The works began in March 2024 and finished in September 2024.
The faults in this building were so severe Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue insisted on a waking watch.
Remediation works were fully funded by the developer, Muse, but residents had to pay inflated insurance premiums.
However, even once remediation has completed, the issues don’t stop there.
“The issue is that many leaseholders have found that they’re not able to sell, and that they’re trapped,” said Andrew.
It can take several months after the completion of remediation for all the paperwork to come through, meaning an added delay for those who wish to sell their flats.
One of Andrew’s fellow directors is trapped in a flat too small for his growing family in Design House, another building on High Street developed by Muse.
Andrew said: “Shortly before this happened, he had a two year old child. In the four years since, they’ve had another child and they’re living in a two bedroom flat in the city centre.
“They’re wanting to move and haven’t been able to. All through the summer they’ve had all of the awful scaffolding and plastic sheeting.
“I hear week on week from people who are, frankly, just really anxious to get it done and get it over with.”
Featured image: Anna Owen
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