By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Works to repair fire safety issues at a London apartment building owned by Mansfield District Council have been delayed again until “at least September”.
The Labour-run authority says the delay has been caused by the “magnitude” of the project.
The council is currently trying to find a contractor for major safety repairs at the site.
It leaves residents living in the 40-home Clapham North building facing delays for a third time after two previous push-backs on the repairs.
Overall, the authority is expected to spend £20m by 2025 fixing problems at the building – more than a single year’s general fund budget – despite buying the property as an investment for £5.95m.
Residents living inside the building told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last September how repair works had faced “repeated” delays.
Work was initially due to start in August last year before the council’s building control application was rejected by Lambeth Building Control that same month.
The work was then delayed by eight months to May 2023 and a contractor was appointed earlier this year to begin moving residents out from all 40 flats this month.
Once residents are removed, all walls, floors and ceilings are likely to be ripped out of each flat so the building can be rebuilt internally.
Alongside the repairs, the authority has committed to funding all relocation costs, fees and charges for each affected household.
The ‘decanting’ contract – to re-house residents – handed to London-based estate agency Lambert Smith Hampton in March – cost more than £2m.
However, the authority has now confirmed this work has again been pushed back.
A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Given the magnitude of this project and the various elements we are piecing together, the timetable for the works to begin is fluid.
“At present, we have updated residents in our most recent newsletter to say that decanting works will not commence until at least September 2023.
“However, once a contractor is appointed, we hope to have more clarity on the detailed programme timelines.
“When we have this information, we will then issue further updates for residents.”
Harry Palmer and his partner Charlotte Veal are a couple who have owned a leasehold on a flat in the building since it was built in 2017.
When issues at the building were publicly exposed last autumn, they told the Local Democracy Reporting Service about their lives being left in continued “limbo”.
Now Mr Palmer has revealed the situation and the delays have forced them to leave the building and rent out their flat at a loss each month.
They instead moved to Twickenham and say this option was more cost-effective than staying in the Clapham building.
Mr Palmer, an IT account executive, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on May 10: “We moved out in the end and now we’re actually renting the flat out until the works take place.
“We couldn’t spend any more time there and it’s forced us to now being landlords, unfortunately.
“Our service fees and costs went up more than 20 per cent and I’m sure we’re subsidising all the issues.
“But renting it out, we’re losing money every month. We couldn’t charge more than the market rate for the rent but this means we lose out.
“It’s the price we had to pay if we wanted to move, and even in Twickenham, this is the most cost-effective solution for us because we couldn’t afford to lose money on the flat every month and stay local.
“It’s all a mess, to be honest.
“The council needs to take some responsibility and allow people that want to move on with their lives to do so.”
Another resident living in the building confirmed meetings between the council and residents have taken place to provide updates on the latest with the works.
The authority says these have been moved onto Microsoft Teams and three recent meetings have been “well-attended”.
Ann McCann, 68 offered praise for the way the authority has communicated with residents but said she cannot see the work starting “any time soon”.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s been fine living here but because of the fire safety issues I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
“[The council] said they would put us somewhere like-for-like and they’re going to sort it.
“I haven’t been told where yet but [the council has] been very helpful so I can’t say anything bad about them.
“I missed one residents’ meeting and another one was cancelled recently so I’m not sure if any more has been said on when we will move out.
“They had said this month but I can’t see it being any time soon.”
On the wider works, a Mansfield District Council spokesperson says it has “always put safety first” for residents in the building.
It revealed an updated building control application has been submitted to get the works started but described the project as “complex”.
The spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This project is very complex.
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“With that in mind, timings and dates for the project to commence are fluid, particularly at this point in the process, as we are currently procuring a works contractor.
“Lambert Smith Hampton has been working with residents directly to ensure where they are temporarily located accommodates their needs best.
“LSH can proceed fully with these works when a contractor has been appointed.
“The council, as a responsible landlord, has always put safety first for the residents at Bedford Road and will continue to do so until the remedial works at the property are completed.”
The purchase of the building was originally approved during the previous Mansfield Independent Forum administration in October 2014.
However, the sale did not officially go through until early 2017 when construction on the mixed-use site, at 50-52 Bedford Road, concluded.
It was bought as a way of shoring up council budgets during austerity following a Government drive encouraging local authorities to diversify their income streams.
But following the June 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster, the building was found to no longer meet updated fire safety regulations.
An independent investigation commissioned by the council in 2018, alongside a separate assessment by the London Fire Brigade in 2021, found ‘numerous’ issues across the building that require extensive work to bring right.
These include issues ‘inside the walls’ that would allow a blaze to spread if it caught alight, as well as issues with the fire resistance of materials used in escape routes.
