Nurses, teachers and post office workers are among those facing crippling fire-safety bills they believe could reach £85,000 each despite only owning a fraction of their homes. The housing association Optivo this week told key workers in shared ownership properties in Oyster Court in Southwark, south London , that […]Click here to view original web…

Tom Mansell killed himself while in despair over the flats cladding bill A young entrepreneur has been named as the first suicide victim linked to the UK cladding scandal. Tom Mansell, 37, took his own life as he faced huge bills for four high rise flats he rented out. […] Click here to view original…

Anastasia Frost often wonders why she listened to the Tories when they talked about aspiration, the benefits of home ownership and levelling up. She lives in a two-bedroom flat in the Ancoats area of Manchester with her husband and their 11-week-old son. “We put trust in this system. We […] Click here to view original…

Three days after that dreadful night in 2017 when fire surged through Grenfell Tower, killing scores of its inhabitants and destroying the homes of many more, I was travelling home from York when my phone rang. The call was from the chief executive of the Manchester-based housing association that […] Click here to view original…

Most flat owners hit by the building safety scandal are desperate to sell up and move on . They are trapped in their unmortgageable homes, facing sky-high bills, with few cash buyers willing to take on the risk and the associated costs. But one optimistic landlord has an unconventional […] Click here to view original…

ESG performance among 16 housing associations revealed by funder Grenfell Tower Inquiry diary week 49: ‘I’m not sure we’ve always taken every opportunity to learn as an organisation’ Non-compliant cladding as well as dangerous structure at Clarion tower block being emptied of residents London’s estate regeneration plans could deliver […] Click here to view original…

ESG performance among 16 housing associations revealed by funder Grenfell Tower Inquiry diary week 49: ‘I’m not sure we’ve always taken every opportunity to learn as an organisation’ Non-compliant cladding as well as dangerous structure at Clarion tower block being emptied of residents London’s estate regeneration plans could deliver […] Click here to view original…

Thousands of homeowners are trapped in flats that cannot be sold or remortgaged despite the government’s attempts to convince banks to forgo fire-safety checks on low-rise apartments. In July, the government announced the EWS1 certificates would no longer be required on buildings shorter than 18 metres. EWS1 certificates for […] Click here to view original…

Part of Victoria Wharf, Cardiff A 54-year-old father has sold his Cardiff Bay flat for £50,000 less than he bought it after hearing about post-Grenfell fire safety problems in the apartment. Leigh Faulkner told the BBC he felt “robbed” when he sold his flat in Victoria Wharf for £125,000. […] Click here to view original…

Sponsored by Insurance Journal Italian firefighters tackled hot spots Monday in a 20-story apartment building in Milan that was destroyed by fire but said there were no indications that anyone was missing inside, as questions arose about the cladding that witnesses said rapidly fueled the fire. Some cases of […] Click here to view original…

It was January 2020 when I first found out that my flat had been identified as not having the right fire safety measures in place. At first the worry about the risk of fire was overwhelming. Like many people, I had watched those heart-breaking images on the news of […] Click here to view original…

Buyers and sellers of flats have been facing significant delays due to a lack of clarity surrounding the assessment of cladding for mortgage purposes, coupled with a shortage of qualified personnel to carry out the work. Much-needed guidance issued by the RICS in the spring, in the form of […] Click here to view original…