Court rules that owner can enforce charges at building with cladding similar to Grenfell

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Residents in an upmarket apartment block with cladding similar to Grenfell Tower have been told they must foot a £100,000 bill for fire wardens.



Leaseholders said they feared they would no longer be able to afford to live in the new-build Fresh building in Salford following a court ruling on Friday.

A tribunal judge ruled in favour of the freeholder E&J Estates, owned by the property tycoon James Tuttiett, to enforce the charges to pay for interim fire wardens.

The ruling, which could affect leaseholders across Britain, came after cladding on the Fresh building was found to be unsafe following the Grenfell fire.

Some of the more than 120 residents in the Fresh building said their service charges would triple after the ruling, meaning they may be forced to move.

Matthew Crisp, 29, said his service charge had increased from £125 to £360 a month to pay for the interim fire marshals.

“I’m worried this now sets a precedent for us to foot the bill for the cladding too, and that’s devastating, as I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue living in my home,” he told Manchester Evening News.

“If I have to keep paying this, it’s going to change my life. Most of my income will go on this. Ultimately, I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry on living here.”

A spokesman for E&J said: “These works are essential and urgent, but we absolutely recognise the significant cost to leaseholders. We will do everything we can to keep costs to a minimum, but the safety of the residents is our absolute priority.

“We are now loaning short-term funds to the service charge account to help cover the additional costs currently being incurred, and we are working with a number of stakeholders to try to find a longer term solution to help leaseholders in meeting these costs.”

Residents in the Fresh building are the latest to be hit with a large bill for fire safety works since Grenfell.

Last week, residents in another upmarket apartment block in Manchester said they had been billed £175,000 for measures. Cladding stripped from their building had “non fire retardant” written on the back, it emerged.

An spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Keeping people safe in their homes is paramount. We are clear we want to see private sector landlords follow the lead of the social sector and not pass on the costs of essential fire safety works to leaseholders. We are keeping the situation under review and will consider this judgment.”