Homeowners in a Harold Wood estate are celebrating “the freedom to move on with our lives” after their housing block was deemed not to need cladding work following a peer review.
Residents living in Freesia Lodge on the Kings Park Estate had been stuck in limbo after a fire assessment of their block, carried out in 2022 by Façade Remedial Consultants (FRC), concluded their homes were likely in need of remedial works.
This was despite a review of another “identical” block opposite, Bell Flower Lodge, stating no work was necessary, albeit only after a reinspection.
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The initial B2 rating for Freesia Lodge, indicating work may be necessary, meant homeowners could have faced the cost of paying for flammable cladding to be removed or replaced, or had difficulties selling their homes.
Marcus Ellard previously told the Recorder he and his wife lost a buyer for their flat following the rating, which meant they could not complete an EWS1 form used by mortgage lenders to assess the external wall safety of buildings.
Marcus said "the whole chain collapsed" as the couple were looking to sell and move into a property in Gidea Park.
Describing the whole experience as "exhausting", he added the conclusion that cladding work was required had a "huge knock-on effect".
The Recorder reported last month how FRC had engaged another fire engineer to conduct a peer review of its assessment, after it alleged, in a letter to Hornchurch and Upminster MP Julia Lopez, that there were errors in a key manual provided by the estate’s developer, Countryside.
While FRC neither confirmed nor denied the review, this paper has now seen the updated EWS1 report for the block.
It gives a new B1 rating indicating “the fire risk is sufficiently low that no remedial works are required”.
David Lanagan, one of the leaseholders living in Freesia Lodge, said he is “pleased” to have reached this resolution.
He said: “We first contacted our managing agent Compton Group to begin this process in late 2020 and many of the residents’ housing situations have been on hold ever since. Our new EWS1 rating will mean we finally have the freedom to move on with our lives.”
Ms Lopez added she is “glad” at the new B1 rating, describing the battle to update the report as “a complex issue”.
She said: “I am really pleased that by working with residents, we have been able to secure this outcome as I know what a stressful process this has been. However, with each breakthrough, I am ever mindful of those leaseholders in other blocks that have not yet reached this point.
“My team and I will keep doing what we can and are in weekly contact with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to flag challenges with remaining buildings and the approach taken by managing agents. I will update constituents on progress as soon as possible.”
The amended rating following a reinspection is a mirror of what occurred in 2021 with Bell Flower Lodge, directly opposite Freesia Lodge on the estate.
But the rating was updated after a review, with the fire consultancy telling this paper Covid restrictions and weather conditions had impacted its findings.
Other properties on the estate have also been given the all-clear over cladding in the last couple of years. Towards the end of 2022, leaseholders in four blocks managed by L&Q were informed that no safety works would be required.
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On Freesia Lodge’s amended report, a spokesperson at Countryside Partnerships said: “Having worked with the managing agent [Compton Property Management] at Freesia Lodge, we’re pleased that the building has now secured a reclassified EWS1 rating, meaning there are no remedial works required to the building.”
A spokesperson for Compton Property Management, which manages Freesia Lodge on behalf of the freeholder Helpfavour Limited, said: “The freeholder is pleased that the further information Countryside provided about the cladding it installed at Freesia Lodge has enabled the fire engineer to issue a certificate that the cladding poses a low risk to the occupiers of Freesia Lodge.”
FRC was also approached for comment.
Do you live in a housing block and have been told cladding works are needed for your home? If so, get in touch at ben.lynch@newsquest.co.uk
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