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Displaced Barking fire residents billed thousands in service charges despite being yet to return home
Residents whose homes were severely damaged by a devastating fire in Barking last June have been sent service charges worth thousands of pounds, despite not living in the block for 12 months.
Inside Housing has seen a bill sent to a leaseholder from one of the eight worst-affected flats at Samuel Garside House, demanding a service charge fee totalling £2,215 despite the fact the resident has not lived in the block since the fire happened.
The bill was sent to residents by property management company RMG.
HomeGround, which employs RMG, has said the service charge accounts, for the residents who have not been able to return, have been on hold since the time of the fire.
Its spokesperson added: "RMG will be communicating directly with residents about this matter as part of the process to move residents back in. This is in line with the original commitment made to residents after the fire".
However, residents have said that they have been querying the charges for months but that they are still waiting on a resolution.The fire damaged 47 flats and displaced dozens of residents, with many forced into temporary accommodation for months.
Last month, a leaked expert report on the fire reported by Inside Housing revealed that the fire posed a “significant threat” to life and could have spread much more widely, as it was fuelled by a deadly combination of timber cladding and plastic mesh on the building’s balconies.
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Those leaseholders living in the eight worst-affected flats were initially told by the building’s managers RMG and HomeGround in the weeks after the fire that they would be moved back into their homes by December last year.
This deadline was missed, and despite being given several move-in dates for February and March by the management company, the leaseholders still have not moved back in.
Inside Housing has been told that in many cases those living in temporary accommodation gave notice to their new landlords when they were told the dates, but had to retract this because their homes at Samuel Garside House were not ready.
In one case, a family with a small baby handed in their notice but could not retract it because a new tenant was moving in, meaning they had to move into new accommodation.
HomeGround has said that the late return is largely due to the delay of a balcony consultation, which lasted until February, and that this was further exacerbated by the developer having to leave the site in March because of COVID-19 restrictions.
According to residents, all their temporary accommodation finishes on Friday 12 June. However, many have not yet collected their keys to their old homes and some have not yet received confirmation that they can move back in.
It is understood that the works have now been finished and HomeGround is aiming for a June move-in date for the remaining displaced residents.
This is the latest in a litany of issues with the rehousing of residents affected by the fire last June.
Last August, Inside Housing reported a number of issues with the rehousing of residents in less severely affected flats. Residents reported repeated calls from the building’s managers to return to their homes despite apartments not being ready or having fire risk assessments completed.
One leaseholder told Inside Housing: “Twelve months on we are still haunted by the aftermath of the horrific fire. I am disgusted at the organisation and co-ordination of this whole incident. There’s no communication, no accountability, no leadership.
“As if the experience of the fire wasn’t enough of an ordeal, stakeholders have suppressed our welfare for monetary gains. Where’s the empathy? Where’s the compassion?”
The Barking Reach Residents Association has launched a resident-led inquiry and will meet tomorrow to look into the failures around the fire.
Pete Mason, chair of the residents group, said: “As our residents-led inquiry meeting approaches tomorrow, today is a day I will always remember, as I stood comforting residents who lost absolutely everything they possessed in that fire. It is burned in all of our minds."
UPDATE: at 14.15pm, 10/06/20 This article has been amended. The original article stated that a leaseholder had received a bill on 8 June 2020. RMG and HomeGround have since confirmed that no bill was sent on this date.
HomeGround response in full
Spokesperson for HomeGround said: “There have been a number of delays which have prevented residents from being able to return to their homes as soon as we would have liked. These included a consultation with the residents about the developer’s colour scheme for the balconies and, more recently, the restrictions that have been put in place as a result of the lockdown.
"We have tried to keep residents informed and updated as much as possible throughout this process but we acknowledge that this has not always been as effective as residents would want due to the circumstances. We will continue to work with all parties to ensure residents are safely returned to their homes as quickly as possible.”
