Block of flats owned by out of town council needs £20m fire safety fix

By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter

A town hall outside of South London faces an almost £20m bill to fix fire safety problems at a block of flats it owns in Clapham.

The building was bought by Mansfield District council as an investment in 2017, but parts of its internal structures now need to be ripped out and rebuilt following advice from an independent safety assessment.

The Labour-led authority is asking residents in the building, at 50-52 Bedford Road, in Clapham, to temporarily leave their homes while it fixes fire safety issues.

People living in the building have spoken of their lives being “in limbo” after the authority delayed the repair works on two separate occasions.

Charlotte Veal, 30, and her 29-year-old partner Harry Palmer have lived in the building since it was first built.

The couple own their flat in a shared ownership agreement and had initially been told they were due to vacate it last year.

This was rescheduled to take place in August 2022 before again being delayed until next May.

Miss Veal said: “Our lives have been on hold during this situation, we want to move out.

“We’ll be moving out for between six months and a year. Everything has got to be ripped out of the flats and we’ve got to take everything out of our own.

“It’s going to be very intrusive work – the floors, ceilings and walls have got to come out of the building.”

Her partner Mr Palmer has also revealed the frustrations of people inside the building who have been “delayed over and over again” in getting their homes sorted.

“We’re literally in limbo right now. We want to move on with our lives, to start a family, but we feel like we’ve got a noose around our necks.”

A 2018 document reveals the council receives annual rental income from the Clapham property totalling more than £300,000, while several flats have been sold off.

Mansfield District council said it had taken safety steps to keep residents safe since it was made aware of the problems.

The authority has committed to paying for temporary accommodation for each of the 40 households and will cover all other related fees.

A Mansfield District council spokesman said: “Following an independent assessment of the building in 2018, the council took immediate action to address several fire safety concerns and keep tenants and residents safe in their homes.

“The council has worked co-operatively with the London Fire Brigade and with tenants to ensure additional temporary fire protection measures are in place so the property is safe to occupy until the remedial works have been completed.”

Commenting on fire regulations relevant when the building was first created, a Lambeth council spokesperson said: “Planning permission was granted by Lambeth.

“The development would have been assessed against the Building Regulations applicable at the time of construction.

“Both the planning and building regulations regimes have been changed in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster.”

Pictured top: Charlotte Veal, 30, and her Partner Harry Palmer, 29, outside their home at 50-52 Bedford Road, Clapham (Picture: LDRS)