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L&Q residents moved out of London block over fire safety issues
Residents at an L&Q property in Elephant and Castle could find themselves waiting up to 18 months to move back into their homes, after the landlord revealed it would have to decant residents so the association can undertake emergency fire safety work.
Tenants and leaseholders at the 54-home Arch Street scheme, which was built for L&Q by Willmott Dixon in 2011, are to be moved into alternative accommodation while the work, which includes replacing the cladding on the building, takes place.
Residents were informed in a letter on 4 May that they needed to move out as soon as possible, with L&Q promising to cover any expense linked to any move.
L&Q stated that it will offer compensation for the disruption and cover any reasonable costs associated with moving. Residents will continue to have to pay rent on their Arch Street properties, with L&Q covering the any additional rent costs at the new property. L&Q said it was unable to guarantee that the accommodation would be in the same area as their current home.
According to L&Q, the decision to decant was taken after an independent fire engineer visited the property and identified a number of issues with the external wall system which needed to be addressed.
News of residents being moved out of the L&Q block comes a week after residents at a Catalyst-owned housing scheme in north London were asked to leave after fire safety issues were found.
Residents at the 50-home Merle Court in South Kilburn were told that they would need to vacate the seven-storey block so that work to rectify fire safety issues could be done.
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The cladding used at Arch Street is not the same aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding which was used at Grenfell. The materials used on the building consist of high-pressure laminate.
Andy Brown, chief operating officer at L&Q, said: “A fire engineer visited in March and raised initial concerns about the cladding, at which point we took immediate steps to ensure the safety of residents.
“A more detailed inspection was then undertaken and our decision to empty the building and relocate is based on a number of factors.It includes the high pressure laminate cladding, but there were also concerns on the insulation behind the cladding and the method of installation.
“We think it’s necessary to move residents out as soon as possible and we know how disruptive it is [to move] but we do think it’s the right decision based on their safety.
“Clearly we are going to give our residents every assistance we can and that they have no cost as a result.
“We have given residents the opportunity to find their own accommodation and we will pay.”
Mr Brown also confirmed that it would buy back properties from shared owners and leaseholders if they chose to take that step.
The landlord has told residents that it could take up to 18 months to complete.
A spokesperson for L&Q said: “Our number one priority is the safety of our residents, which is why we’ve taken a proactive approach to ensuring the safety of all our buildings in line with the latest government advice.
“To keep our residents safe while they continue to occupy the property, we have put in place 24-hour fire marshals and offered immediate alternative accommodation.”
Earlier this month L&Q posted its annual results which showed that the post-tax surplus had slid by 45% to £191m for the year to March 31 2019. The drop in surplus was attributed in part to higher-than-expected fire safety and maintenance bills.
L&Q has set aside £50m to cover the costs of replacement cladding and additional fire safety works at its properties and has identified 15 of its blocks with ACM cladding in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
