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Residents of a private block owned by Places for People have been told they will not have to pay towards the cost of remediating dangerous cladding by the housing association.
Places for People has confirmed to Inside Housing that it has now provided a loan for residents to fund the re-cladding of the 235-home Saxton Parade block in Leeds, and will not look to recover the costs from residents.
Residents at the block had feared that they would be hit with bills worth tens of thousands of pounds after the building’s property management company, and Places for People subsidiary, Residential Management Group (RMG) said it would seek to recover costs from leaseholders.
Inside Housing understands the Saxton Parade block is clad with high pressure laminate cladding and insulated panels that are deemed combustible and need to be removed.
RMG has lodged a claim for the residents with the National House Building Council (NHBC), which provided a 10-year warranty for the building after its completion.
A Places for People spokesperson said: “We understand the residents’ concerns and we have structured a loan to enable the management company to continue with the NHBC claim.
“We have reassured them that we will not seek to recover repayment of the balance, should their insurance claim be unsuccessful.”
The NHBC told Inside Housing last month that it had “fewer than a dozen” cladding claims that had been accepted or were under consideration.
Remediation work will start on the site in early 2019 with a 24/7 fire patrol, also known as a waking watch, put in place until the cladding system is removed.
The block was built by developer Urban Splash in 2011 but Places for People acquired the freehold and a number of homes within the block in 2013.
Legal & General is currently the only other freeholder so far to have publicly agreed to cover the costs of re-cladding its Blenheim Centre development in Hounslow.
Last week the government revealed it would provide financial support to local authorities to strip cladding off private blocks and recover the costs from building owners.
However, council representatives and campaigners have raised concerns over the plans, saying that the re-cladding work could take “years” to begin and still result in leaseholders footing remediation bills.
Latest government figures have shown that re-cladding work has stalled recently, with remediation work not starting on any new blocks in the past two-and-a-half months.