House prices plummet as Croydon residents await cladding removal

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

Homeowners in one Croydon town centre block feel trapped and have watched their house prices plummet to zero as they wait for cladding to be removed from their properties.

Residents at the Longitude, Latitude and Altitude blocks off Barclay Road are still waiting for cladding to be removed from their homes and for internal work to be carried out to stop potential fires from spreading between flats.

It is understood that in London there are 1,100 buildings over 11 metres which still have serious fire safety issues.

The Government last month passed its Building Safety Bill in a bid to make new builds safer.

A 41-year-old man, who asked not to be named, owns a flat in the Latitude block, but now lives in a larger flat in Longitude after having a child and needing an extra bedroom.

He said: “They are still trying to figure out the cost – there is a huge tussle going on between the freehold landlord and owners as to who pays for that.”

He said without this work, residents can’t get the necessary certificate to sell or re-mortgage.

Some residents fear for their safety as the cladding issue remains unresolved.

A spokesman for the freeholder Radcliffe Investment Properties Limited. said: “We sympathise with the residents of Altitude, Longitude and Latitude, all of whom purchased their properties in good faith.

“The passing of the Building Safety Act has meant that those properties that had been accepted into the Government’s Building Safety Fund (BSF) – including Altitude and Latitude – now face potential delays due to the conflict between the terms of the BSF and the Building Safety Act.”

Pictured top: Leaseholders and tenants in Longitude and Latitude blocks in Croydon are still waiting for safety work to be carried out (Picture: Darren Pepe)