Home owners feeling trapped and uncomfortable in their Woolwich abodes after prolonged cladding work

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Greenwich leaseholders have claimed they are unable to sell their flats due to ‘nightmare’ cladding remediation works on their building.

Woolwich Central in Grand Depot Road comprises a series of seven blocks of flats sitting above a large Tesco Extra store. The building was completed in 2014 by construction company Willmott Dixon and includes 259 homes.

Work began to replace the building’s external cladding in May 2022 after it was found to be flammable and revised building regulations since the Grenfell Tower fire required its removal.

Derek Fay, 45, who has lived in his flat in the Greenwich building for more than 10 years, said work to replace the cladding on his block has lasted 18 months.

He said the design of the building meant vibrations from the work could be felt in his flat, even if his property was not being directly treated.

Mr Fay said: “All your light is blocked out and you couldn’t access the balconies or the terrace. With all of our stuff that was on the terrace, some of it was moved out but some of it stayed there. It’s now all falling apart. All the furniture and everything that was out there now needs to be replaced.

“[The drilling] was a nightmare. Even now sometimes they still have people doing scaffolding at 6am because Tesco doesn’t want them doing that type of scaffolding when they open.

“For a good 18 months at 8am every morning, there was drilling that was really loud. I work from home and that was impossible sometimes just because it was so loud. It felt like it was right by your ear.”

The leaseholder said many of his neighbours have moved out of the building as a result of the noise. Mr Fay claimed this wasn’t an option for him and his wife so they are waiting for works to be completed so they can sell their flat.

He said: “You couldn’t sell up because you couldn’t get a mortgage because the mortgage companies valued your property at zero basically. So you couldn’t remortgage, you couldn’t go to another mortgage lender. You had to stay with the person you were with so you couldn’t shop around to get a good deal. You couldn’t sell up so loads of people actually moved out and just rented their properties.”

A Willmott Dixon spokesman said that transparent netting was added to scaffolding on the building to allow light through and that access to balconies and terraces was restricted to prioritise residents’ safety.

Fernando Martinez, 39, another leaseholder who moved in 10 years ago, said: “I know neighbours of mine who were trying to sell and this was blocked because the bank that was going to give the mortgage to the prospective buyer was not granting them it simply because the building was not following the current recommendations regarding fire safety.”

The resident said he also had access to his terrace blocked for several months last year while work was being carried out. He said the layers of the wall being replaced meant his flat was particularly cold in winter, while being unable to fully open his windows and balcony door made the space very warm in summer.

He said: “The noise was killing me because I work from home seven days per week, so that was the worst part.”

Angelina Ajtobska, 43, is a leaseholder and has been mindful of the difficulties if she wanted to sell her flat, but said she is thankful that she does not have to contribute towards the cost of the remediation works.

She said cladding removal and damage to piping had led to leaks in her flat. “It was raining, so the water had nowhere to go and it went right into my flat. So that caused a lot of damage. I had to be at home with buckets. I couldn’t sleep the whole night because it was raining. I had to be there to mop because we have wooden stairs.”

Willmott Dixon claimed it had no records of any incident relating to piping that had come down and any isolated cases of leaks from extreme weather were promptly rectified. They added that residents had been offered free offsite storage for belongings on their balconies.

Their spokesman confirmed that a small number of properties at Woolwich Central have had works lasting 18 months due to additional works that were needed.

A spokesman for Canonbury Management, who provide managing services at Woolwich Central, stated that many of the claims of the residents were ‘exaggerations, isolated cases or outright false’.

They said: “After safety concerns, the main issues relating to selling flats with cladding findings are mortgage availability, uncertain and large remediation costs, and who pays for them.

“Significant parts of the remediation are complete and the scaffolding in large sections has already come down. There is no reason to believe the remainder of the remediation will be any different.

“Leaseholders have confidence that they can sell if they wish to, now or in the future. Future buyers do not have the uncertainty that other buildings have suffered and importantly, the building is safe.”

Pictured top: Woolwich Central, which consists of seven residential blocks above a Tesco Extra store (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)