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Ipswich Cardinal Lofts: Cladding safety costs 'a kick in the teeth'

BBC Claire HamblionBBC
Claire Hamblion said she did not expect the additional costs to address safety issues

A flat owner said the fees she has to pay to live there have increased from £900 over six months to £6,500 to address fire safety issues.

A safety report identified there were "combustible materials" in the cladding at Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich.

The firm in charge of the building said the cost of putting the safety problems right had to be met through its service charge unless it could obtain funding.

Resident Claire Hamblion said the extra costs felt like a "kick in the teeth".

Cardinal Lofts is one of a number of buildings in the town that were identified as unsafe in light of the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017.

A fire report in October said "combustible materials" on the outside of the waterfront building provided a "route for fire to spread".

Cardinal Lofts
"Combustible materials" were identified in the cladding used at Cardinal Lofts, Ipswich

As a result, a "waking watch service" was introduced in November with patrols 24 hours a day to maintain fire safety.

That added a charge of £300 a month to residents' bills which at the time they said they had no warning about.

Ms Hamblion said she did not know how she was going to afford the additional costs.

Fire warden
A "waking watch service" was implemented following a fire safety report into Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich

She said she would normally budget for £900 but "to have a bill arrive for £6,500 is really not something that you're ready for".

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"All of this is completely out of our control," she said.

"I didn't build this building, I don't own this building, the goal posts have changed and when this building was built it was signed off as safe, so it feels like an absolute kick in the teeth that we're being expected to pay for this."

PA Media Grenfell TowerPA Media
Seventy two people were killed in the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, and an inquiry concluded that cladding fuelled the fire

Grey GR Limited Partnership, which manages the building, said it had applied for funding through the government's Building Safety Fund (BSF) for the cost of addressing the safety issues and it was awaiting the outcome of its application.

It said it had also "forward funded all up-front costs" for the waking watch service, a fire alarm installation and fees for the cladding project to "help alleviate the immediate financial pressure on leaseholders".

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