Feature: Flat owners caught in mortgage trap
The Grenfell fire tragedy of June 2017, in which 72 people died, has highlighted fire safety issues with thousands of blocks of flats, exposed decades of lax building controls, and shone a light on a construction sector that focused on building properties fast and cheap. The fire spread quickly […] Click here to view original…
Coordinated effort needed on cladding as borrowers face years in limbo – Ganatra
Homeowners living in flats are finding it near impossible to remortgage where they cannot provide evidence of an external wall survey which confirms the building is free of combustible materials. In the wake of the Grenfell disaster, surveyors acting for mortgage lenders are making extra checks to ensure a […] Click here to view original…
‘150-year wait’ to replace all cladding so flats can be sold
Victoria Robinson says she has been saddled with a flat she cannot live in, sell, remortage or rent out Victoria Robinson, 37, may never be able to sell her home — because, at the current rate of repairs, it will take more than a century to fix blocks of […] Click here to view original…
Government aware ‘punitive’ cladding fund would exclude certain leaseholders, policy document shows
The government was aware that its Building Safety Fund would exclude certain leaseholders in a way which would be perceived as “punitive”, documents released in a failed legal challenge to the fund reveal. Residents of the Skyline Central 1 building in Manchester launched a judicial review against ministers in […] Click here to view original…
Why the cladding scandal will derail the house price boom and create ‘catastrophe’
The Grenfell cladding scandal could kick off a housing market downturn and “sterilise whole areas” of city centres, property experts and MPs have warned…. To continue reading Already a subscriber? Log in Enjoy unlimited access to all articles Choose from all our exclusive newsletters Unlock money-saving offers and events […] Click here to view original…
Thousands risk bankruptcy due to cost of removing cladding ruled unsafe after Grenfell Tower fire
More than 70 people died in Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017(PA) When single mother Timea scraped together enough money to buy a two-bedroom flat in London , she looked forward to providing her son with the security of their own home. But two years later, Timea and thousands […] Click here to view original…
Government must foot £15billion bill to fix unsafe cladding on 1.5million homes, says TV property expert Phil Spencer
TV property expert Phil Spencer says the Government needs to pay the bill to renovate up to 1.5million homes with unsafe cladding. He said the situation ‘cannot resolve itself’ and that houseowners – who bought their homes without knowing they were built using dangerous materials – cannot afford to […] Click here to view original…
After Grenfell: British homeowners face bankruptcy to strip unsafe building panels
London, UK Thomson Reuters Foundation When single mother Timea scraped together enough money to buy a two-bedroom flat in London, she looked forward to providing her son with the security of their own home. But two years later, Timea and thousands of other homeowners in Britain face bankruptcy and […] Click here to view original…
Plans to remove dangerous Grenfell-style cladding from Manchester tower blocks submitted – THREE YEARS after residents were first told about it
The City Gate development on Blantyre Street Plans to remove dangerous cladding from tower blocks in Manchester city centre have been submitted – three years after the issues were first identified. Residents of City Gate in Castlefield have lived with the knowledge that their buildings were clad in the […] Click here to view original…
Post-Grenfell cladding work could take until 2029 at current rate, says Labour
Grenfell-style combustible cladding is being replaced so slowly that it could take until 2029 before all buildings are fixed, Labour has said. According to government figures, 249 high-rise apartment blocks are yet to be made completely safe, and the majority of them are still wrapped in dangerous aluminium composite […] Click here to view original…
Richmond & Merton among UK’s slowest to remove Grenfell-style cladding
Fewer than half of buildings with flammable cladding in Merton and Richmond have replaced the dangerous cladding material used on Grenfell Tower, according to new data . Since the government ordered owners of all buildings with flammable aluminium composite material (ACM) to replace the cladding in the wake of […] Click here to view original…
Sheffield couple who moved into perfect first home now ‘trapped in potentially dangerous apartment’
Lauren Steel, 37, and her partner are unable to sell their apartment in Kelham Mills, Kelham Island because they claim their managing agent, Derwent Living, won’t provide them with an ESW1 form that lenders are now requesting before approving funds. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors brought in the […] Click here to view original…