Victory for Angel Edmonton residents after two years of uncertainty, reports James Cracknell

Prowse Court leaseholders Edel Smullen (left) and Basim Jafar (right) have been told the timber cladding on their balconies does not meet the required fire safety standard — *Prowse Court leaseholders Edel Smullen (left) and Basim Jafar (right) were told two years ago the timber cladding on their balconies does not meet the required fire safety standard*

Residents of a modern housing block who have been living with fire safety defects in their building have been told the scheme’s developer will now fund remedial work.

Fire safety defects were discovered two years ago at Prowse Court in Fore Street, Edmonton, with residents initially told they would have to meet the cost of replacing the dangerous timber cladding on their balconies themselves – estimated at between £12,000 and £15,000 per flat.

But Countryside, which built the block in 2015, has now written to residents to confirm it would pay for remedial work. Resident Basim Jafar said: “This presents a massive victory for the innocent residents and we are hoping to complete the works as quickly as possible.

“This of course would not have been possible without the campaigning of leaseholders up and down the country demanding action from the government to make homes safe.”

Last year Prowse Court residents were told they were ineligible for the government’s £3.5billion Building Safety Fund because the defects on the building – timber cladding on balconies – was outside the scope of the fund.

For more than two years leaseholders at the block had been unable to sell or remortgage their homes because banks had stopped lending for any homes that do not meet the government’s updated building safety regulations.

Countryside had insisted that Prowse Court complied with the building regulations in place at the time of its construction seven years ago, but earlier this year the developer agreed that it would fund repairs to any high-rise blocks it had built over the last 30 years which were now found to have critical defects.

In a letter to Prowse Court’s management company, David Hudson, group site compliance director at Countryside Partnerships, wrote: “To the extent that these works are to remediate/mitigate ‘life-critical fire safety’ defects, Countryside would like to work with HMCL [Highmead Management Company Ltd] and a fire engineering consultant to assess the building and agree a scope of remedial works.

“Countryside will fund and work with you to remediate the building.”

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