High rise residents feel ‘trapped’ as they wait for their homes to be made safe

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Young parents who feel “trapped” in a one-bedroom apartment they have outgrown are among the many residents of high-rise buildings in Cardiff who are still waiting for their homes to be made safe.

Councillors at Cardiff Council voted in favour of passing a motion at a meeting on Thursday, January 30, calling on the Welsh Government to be firmer with private developers on making sure work to rectify high-rise buildings across the city progresses without delay.

All large developers in Wales have signed a Welsh Government building safety pact requiring them to make all buildings of 11m or more in height fire-safe with the aim of avoiding an incident similar to that of the Grenfell fire disaster in 2017 reoccurring.

However many leaseholders and residents in high-rise buildings are still waiting for work to be completed and continue to call for developers to be made responsible for fixing other faults not related to fire safety.

Outgrown

Presenting Labour’s motion to the council this week Cllr Helen Gunter said: “I have unfortunately heard… examples such as where a young couple with a child, who has over a period grown from a newborn into a three-year-old, feel trapped in a one-bedroom apartment they have outgrown and they can’t sell and have a lack of communication about what is happening.

“Another example of elderly residents who have felt the need to move out of their building while awaiting remediation work because they worry and have anxiety about their ability to leave the building quickly in the event of an emergency.

“They have no idea of timescales so can’t rent out and don’t want to sell the home they love but as a consequence have fallen into the category for increased council tax bills.

“Developers have delayed or changed timetables for works sometimes as many as four times. Apartment blocks… have been taking on the waking watch due to the delays which is causing the insurance and service charges for the residents to go up steeply, almost doubling in some cases and causing financial strain.

“Also there are delays forcing residents into a situation of negative equity with an apartment where the value has dropped substantially and, in worst cases I am afraid, repossession.”

Remediation work

Leaseholders at the Celestia apartments complex in Cardiff welcomed Redrow’s offer in April 2024 to fund and undertake remediation work.

However there has been little progress since as negotiations between Celestia Management Company Limited (CMCL) and Redrow over a works contract continue.

Issues at the complex include algae forming on the side of buildings, chunks of render coming off, and, more recently, a window falling off one buildings onto the car park.

A CMCL spokesman said: “The recent Cardiff City Council motion highlighted the wider safety issues affecting blocks of flats beyond ‘life-critical fire safety’, which are currently the sole focus of the Welsh Government’s remediation programme.

“At Celestia there are other potentially life-threatening defects that are not fire-related. These defects need to be remediated with the same urgency.

“Despite admitting such defects at Celestia Redrow are currently refusing to address these non-fire defects.

“As to the fire defects Redrow signed a contract with [Welsh Government] almost two years ago but nothing has been achieved since.”

Priority

A spokesperson for Barratt Redrow said: “Our first priority is the safety of our buildings and the people that live in them and we have been working to remediate affected developments for some years.

“This can take time. We understand and appreciate the concerns that leaseholders have but we are working hard to ensure that appropriate solutions are found and implemented as soon as they can be.

“In many cases we need permissions or approvals from third parties before we can progress remediation and we will continue to work with those third parties to get work completed as quickly as possible in the interests of all involved.

“At Celestia we remain ready to start remediation but unfortunately we have not received the necessary works licence from the Celestia Management Company, despite it being reviewed and endorsed by the Welsh Government, and until we do we are unable to start work.”

However CMCL has suggested that they were not happy with the terms of the proposed work licence.

A spokesperson for the management company added: “The terms of Redrow’s proposed licence did not comply with their obligations to the Welsh Government (or leaseholders) to enter into a works contract containing protections for leaseholders that were previously agreed between Redrow and the [Welsh Government].

“Celestia’s leaseholders have been pointing this out for months and, in January, the Welsh Government confirmed that Redrow’s proposals were not compliant. Negotiations are continuing.”

Prospect Place in Grangetown is another apartment complex in Cardiff where residents and leaseholders have been waiting a long time to see work carried out.

Temporary accommodation

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that some residents in one block called Lady Isle House had to be moved to temporary accommodation in October 2024 following a fire risk assessment.

Bellway, the developers behind the site, confirmed residents on the top floor of the building were moved while fire safety measures were implemented.

Residents were moved back in before Christmas.

A Bellway spokesman said: “Bellway has consistently taken a proactive approach to fire safety following the Grenfell fire in 2017.

“We are fully committed to delivering remediation works as quickly as possible and have set aside c. £655m to cover the expected costs of doing this.

“We have made good progress to date and expect the pace of work to increase over the coming months.

“Delivering these works is often lengthy and complex, dependent on certain factors outside our control such as securing legal agreement access to buildings we no longer own and obtaining the necessary planning permissions.

“We are doing everything we can to give residents the peace of mind they deserve and are in active conversations with the new government to discuss ways to help accelerate this process.”

Councillors at Cardiff council welcomed The Building Safety (Wales) Bill which is set to be introduced in summer 2025.

However they are now calling on the Welsh Government to consider what sanctions they can bring against developers who haven’t yet started works or cause any further avoidable delay.

The Liberal Democrats group at the council proposed an amendment to Labour’s motion which was accepted.

This amendment called on the Welsh Government to reconsider its position on introducing certain sections of the Building Safety Act 2022 into Welsh legislation to provide further protection to leaseholders.

Liberal Democrats councillor, Cllr Rhys Taylor, said: “Many of the [residents]… are pensioners who downsized and bought in good faith and have no idea how they are going to… meet the ever-increasing costs they face just to keep a roof over their head.”

He went on to say the legislation on remediation in Wales needs “stronger teeth”.

The Welsh Government recently set up forums where leaseholders could share their concerns with government officials.

Cllr Taylor noted this but added: “Unfortunately the driving force behind a lot of these stakeholder forums… prioritise exactly those people who put us in the position we are in now.

“[There] needs to be a rebalance of that power.”

Speaking at the same council meeting Conservative councillor Adrian Robson also commented on what he saw as the slow progress of remediation work and also commented on how he received reports of windows falling out of buildings.

He said: “Safety and remediation is wider than just the cladding.”

Cllr Saeed Ebrahim, who is also a ward member for Butetown where many high-rise buildings are located in Cardiff, said many residents “continue to live in fear” and that the current situation is putting “psychological stress on inhabitants”.

Worried

A recent study carried out by SFG20, the industry standard for building safety, found that a quarter of the residents it surveyed in Cardiff were worried about the safety of the building they live in.

As part of the study 1,500 people across 15 different UK cities were surveyed.
Of those in Cardiff who took part in the study 41% said they distrust that high-rise residential properties are safe in accordance with current building safety standards.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have always been clear that leaseholders and residents should not be paying for building works to rectify fire safety issues that are not of their making.

“The Building Safety (Wales) Bill, which will be introduced by the summer, will establish a new regime to cover the regulation of building safety risks in multi-occupied residential buildings. It will empower residents by placing their lived experience, safety, and wellbeing at its heart, setting out clear requirements to support residents with enhanced rights and a stronger voice in matters that affect their homes.

“Through our remediation programme all residential buildings over 11m high have a route to remediation. We continue to work closely with all those impacted by these issues.”