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Leaseholders in Sheffield block made to pay £2,000-a-day waking watch bill after evacuation
Leaseholders living in a block in Sheffield that was partially evacuated on Friday because of fire safety issues have been told they must pay £2,000 every day to maintain a waking watch service and prevent the rest of the block from being evacuated.
Residents living in the Wicker Riverside apartments near Sheffield City Centre have been told that five people will now need to be employed to carry out waking watch patrols on the bottom five floors of the building, to ensure those still living in the block can remain.
On Friday night, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue called for those living between the sixth and 10th floors of the building to evacuate after it failed fire safety tests. Residents were evacuated from 35 flats.
The decision came after the fire service discovered a number of fire safety defects, including issues with the smoke ventilation and fire detectors. The building was already identified as having flammable insulation and missing firestops.
The block’s evacuation policy in the event of a fire has been changed from ‘stay put’ to ‘simultaneous evacuation’, which requires a waking watch or a communal fire alarm.
But residents have been told that they must pay in excess of £2,000 every day to employ someone to carry out waking watch patrols on each of the bottom five floors.
The daily charge will be split across the 130 flats in the block, including from those who have been evacuated.
The only way the block can lose its waking watch is by getting a communal fire alarm installed, which could still take weeks and would also mean that leaseholders would have to pay thousands of pounds for the installation.
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Jen Garratt, who bought her flat in the block last year, said she is concerned that the cost to leaseholders could become incredibly high.
“The waking watch is currently costing over £2,000 per day as we have a warden on each floor – and we need the fire alarm system to be installed urgently and it will cost around £1,000 per flat,” she said.
“I have no idea how myself and other leaseholders will be able to pay these urgent costs.”
Sheffield City Council has found temporary accommodation for those who have been evacuated, and it is covering the costs upfront.
Local Labour MP Paul Blomfield has organised a meeting between residents and the building safety minister Lord Greenhalgh this week.
The issues at Wicker Riverside were discovered during South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s inspections of high-rise blocks of 18m or taller. These were carried out as part of the government’s Building Risk Review, a national programme aimed at increasing the rate of high-rise inspections across the country.
Commenting on its decision to serve the prohibition notice, a spokesperson for the fire service said that while it was a difficult decision to evacuate people from the block, especially so close to Christmas, it had to make the building safe for residents.
They added: “Our inspectors will continue to work with the building owner to support them in resolving the issues to enable the notice to be lifted.”
In a joint statement, Wicker Riverside residents said: “We are very pleased to hear that our MP Paul Blomfield has secured an urgent meeting with the building safety minister early this week to discuss the crisis we are facing.
“We are grateful to Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue for their support to residents over the weekend and we hope that the government will help to resolve the situation and make sure our residents are back at home safely as soon as possible.
“At present all evacuated residents have been provided with alternative accommodation and our management company and RTM company are doing as much as possible to support them.”
A joint statement from the block’s right to mange company and block manager Love Your Block said: “All residents of the upper floors have been asked to relocate and free alternate accommodation is being provided where needed.
“We are now turning our attention to procuring a new fire alarm throughout the building so that residents can return to their homes as soon as possible.
“We have also been in contact with residents, residents’ association, the fire service and Paul Blomfield throughout the weekend to continue to ensure the welfare and safety of the residents especially in the lead-up to Christmas and during Tier 3 COVID restrictions.”
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