Leaseholders face waking watch bill of £670 each a month as MP warns of ‘growing crisis’

Centrick, the company that manages the Timble Beck block, which is part of the Fearn Island Mills development, said: “The waking watch cover, in terms of number of hours and personnel to be on site, has been dictated by the local fire authority.

“As agents for the building we rely on the professional experts to instruct the recommended cover to ensure the safety of our residents. Whilst we acknowledge that this is an unexpected expenditure, it is a symptom of a nationwide challenge being experienced on many developments.”

The company had originally told leaseholders that the total weekly bill would be £8,568 per week, which works out as nearly £1,400 a month for each leaseholder.

Regarding the £8,568 quoted to residents, the company told Inside Housing it had “no alternative” but to go with the “first available provider” as the local fire service had said the waking watch must be introduced on the same day fire officers checked the building. The total weekly bill for the building is now put at £3,864.

Fire chiefs have been stepping up their pursuit of potentially dangerous buildings in the region and last month threatened to shut down 13 blocks of flats unless steps are taken to remove their dangerous cladding.

Last week West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service sent out a note saying that it still needed 10 of these high rises to clarify their plans to remove dangerous cladding.

It is understood the Timble Beck block has timber infill cladding as part of its south-west façade and timber cladding on the upper floor.

Centrick has also yet to put a figure on the cost of remediation work, but is looking to install a fire alarm system in the meantime.

“We are hopeful that the waking watch can be removed or reduced, once an appropriate fire alarm system can be installed or when the remedial works can be completed,” the company said.

One leaseholder, who wished to remain anonymous, said the situation was “incredibly” stressful.

They added: “I remain incredulous that simply by buying an apartment, taking out all the necessary checks, paying all the right insurances for years, I can be faced with bills of hundreds of pounds a week for an indeterminate amount of time.

“I then face a bill of multiple thousands of pounds to put right the regulatory failures of the fabric of a building that is actually owned by someone else.”

Centrick said: “As yet the cost of any remedial works is unknown. The primary step was to comply with the instructions of the local fire officer and implement the required measures.

“As soon as any further costs are established this will be communicated and consultation with the residents will commence.”

Elsewhere in the city, Debbie Haigh, a resident of the Cartier House building in Leeds Docks, comprising around 100 flats, told Inside Housing she had been asked to pay £10 a week for her building’s waking watch. It is unclear what the bill for the entire building amounts to.

She also faces an anxious wait to hear the results of a fire risk assessment. “We’ve got no idea how much [the bill for remediation work] will be,” she said. “It’s hugely stressful and worrying.You would think the safety issue would be top of the list, but it’s actually the financial aspect that is causing the biggest stress.”

Dan Dickinson, head of block management at LIV Group, the managing agent of Cartier House, said it had been “working diligently with the block landlord to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents”.

He added: “Following a recent façade fire risk assessment at Cartier House, we are now working with the block landlord to finalise the report and will be sharing the findings with our residents in the near future.”

Mr Benn said: “This is a growing crisis. More and more leaseholders are finding themselves in an absolutely impossible position being asked for sums of money for waking watches which they can’t afford and facing complete uncertainty about how dangerous cladding or wall systems will be replaced on their block which their and rescue service says is unsafe.

“Ultimately freeholders need to deal with this but if they can’t then I think the government needs to step in and take responsibility.”