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Burberry dragged into EWS crisis as leaseholders trapped in building owned by fashion brand
Leaseholders and shared owners living in a London residential block owned by luxury fashion brand Burberry have voiced their frustration after a number of flat sales fell through due to the freeholder being unable to carry out checks of the building’s cladding.
Inside Housing has spoken to leaseholders living in the Wisteria Apartments block in Hackney who have been unable to sell or remortgage due to banks being unwilling to lend until checks, in the form of EWS inspections, are carried out to assess the exact type of cladding and whether remedial work is needed.
Leaseholders say that despite knowing about the issues for months Burberry has been unable to make progress on carrying out the essential EWS checks to allow leaseholders to sell.
The block includes 87 apartments as well as a Burberry outlet store on the bottom floor.
Burberry has stressed that the building is safe and says that it has engaged extensively with multiple fire safety specialists over recent years to ensure the building remains compliant with all government guidelines, standards and legislation, as these have been updated.
It added that it understood the “stress and frustration residents” were experiencing but it was trying to navigate the lengthy and complex process to obtain an EWS certificate.
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The issues facing the Burberry-owned block are another example of the widespread problems currently facing hundreds of freeholders and leaseholders across the country.
The majority of banks now require leaseholders to have completed EWS checks for their blocks before they provide mortgages on individual flats.
If a completed EWS form gives a building a clean bill of health, then a mortgage provider will lend on the building. However, if it deems that remedial works are needed, leaseholders could be unable to sell for months or even years until the work is completed.
However, the sheer volume of buildings that need to be checked and the drastic shortage of people able to carry out these checks is causing major delays. This is resulting in leaseholders being unable to sell their homes and potentially trapped for years.
A fire risk assessment carried out on the Wisteria Apartments in March identified the presence of expanded polystyrene (EPS) on the building and called for it to be tested to assess the safety of the material.
Inside Housing understands that the EPS is confined to a small part of the building and is not in the cladding of any other part of the building.
Burberry is the freeholder of the block and is therefore responsible for the fire safety of the exterior building. Peabody is the head lessee and has a number of shared owners living in the block.
According to Burberry it got the cladding inspected in 2018 and it complied with government regulations at the time. It also says that in February this year it engaged with the Fire Protection Association about securing a BS 8414 test to show that the cladding was compliant.
However, the attempts to carry out the testing have been beset by delays due to COVID-19 and the demand for testing facilities at the moment. There are also issues with Burberry securing the original as-built drawings of the building which is further holding up the process.
In a letter sent to leaseholders by Peabody, leaseholders were told that Burberry could not begin the tests until it received as-built drawings from the block’s original developer Mount Anvil. However, it has not been possible to obtain these drawings yet, thereby meaning a test cannot be booked and EWS checks cannot be arranged.
Burberry has said that it could take until the end of the year for this to be completed but it would be paying for all of the labour and costs associated with the testing work.
Leaseholders, some of which are Peabody shared owners, have described their frustrations over the slow pace of progress from Burberry.
One leaseholder said: “Following the latest fire assessment for the building we are aware there is EPS cladding in our building and it falls on Burberry to investigate this before providing a EWS form and Burberry has known about this for some time.
“To date we still don’t know if the cladding/materials within our building are safe.”
The experience of these residents mirrors those of thousands of leaseholders up and down the country, with estimates that there could be more than 600,000 affected. Last month, Inside Housing reported that some housing associations had been telling leaseholders it could take up to a decade before they could sell their homes.
A Burberry spokesperson said: “Working with the Peabody Trust and Mount Anvil, we are doing everything we can to help residents. Safety remains our top priority and we have engaged extensively with multiple fire safety specialists over recent years to ensure the building remains compliant with all government guidelines, standards and legislation, as these have been updated. The building is safe.
“We understand the stress and frustration residents are experiencing as we work to navigate the lengthy and complex process to obtain the required certification. We are doing all we can to resolve this as quickly as possible, working with specialist partners and regulatory bodies.”
