Danielle Codd
Journalist
Bbc
Tom says he is constantly worried about the way he will pay to make his building safe
The owners of apartments are affected by huge invoices for the fire safety work, because their blocks are not large enough to qualify for the funding announced after the fire of the Grenfell tower.
The previous government launched the law on the safety of buildings after the 2017 fire which killed 72 people. But the rules do not apply to buildings less than 11 m (36 feet) or five floors high.
Some lawyers claim that the new law has been “precipitated” but the government affirms that it covers the majority of the bays and that it will continue to review the legislation.
The Paramedic Tom Deronde received an invoice of £ 65,000 because his apartment is in a three -story building and says that he goes bankrupt.
“I had to take a month of leave with stress. There was not a day when I did not think of the coating,” he told the BBC.
It is estimated that there are 1.3 million leases in low height blocks, less than 11 million people in England, according to the end of our campaign of coating scandal.
Tom bought his apartment from Luton in 2018 with money which he had saved to serve in the army. He said that when he got home for an invoice for £ 65,000, he was “absolutely shocked”.
The invoice of its owner was his legal share of costs to make the flashy building. “I thought it was a typo to be honest,” said Tom.
Then he learned that the height of the building meant that he was an “unskilled tenant” and would be required to pay the fire safety work.
Tom climbed a scale and measured his block of apartments himself – he falls outside the protections of the law 9 meters high
“The government says that for buildings of less than 11 million, the risk can be reduced by other means, such as using fire alarms and nozzle systems, but in my case, this is not true,” said Tom.
“I had two fire assessments that said that the coating is dangerous and must be deleted, and the price, which they think would be lower for small buildings, is exorbitant. I cannot pay,” he added.
After complaining about the owners of the building, Tom expects the bill to be reduced, but has not yet been to be discovered by how much.
Tom had planned to sell the apartment to buy a family home but cannot. “It ruins my life and I face bankruptcy,” he said.
The Housing Department told the BBC that the owners of buildings of less than 11 million should not transmit the repair costs of historic security defects to the tenants.
But the law does not prevent people like Tom to be billed for unlimited amounts when the promoters are no longer there or that the owners cannot afford the repair costs.
‘Fall through the gaps’
Liz Ramsden is a lease expert at Knights and told the BBC that she thought that the Building Security Act was written too quickly.
“The intention was that no tenant should pay, but in reality, we find that many bays have to pay huge sums of money.
“There was very little consultation and because of this, we have these shortcomings in the legislation and people fall,” she said.
Even in buildings above 11m, the rules do not protect many bays.
Owners with Islamic mortgages or three or more properties do not benefit from full protections either.
This is something that Martin Batty, who has an Islamic mortgage, only discovered when he put his dish from a room for sale.
He said that his lawyer explained the way in which the Islamic houses purchase plans are structured – to comply with Sharia law which does not allow interest – means that it is not part of the scope of the law.
“It’s really unfair. I feel like I was discriminated against,” he said.
Martin Batty
Martin Batty’s Sharianess mortgage on a lease apartment means that he has trouble selling his property
“To discover that I am an unskilled tenant simply because I have an Islamic house purchase plan is a huge kick in my teeth. It’s really overwhelming and is a huge disappointment.”
The government said that free BBC Islamics loans guaranteed against the properties were very rare.
But Martin said that he could not sell his apartment because the mortgage providers would not lend it and that lawyers will not advise on unskilled leases.
Suzy and Colin outside their apartments in Salford
Suzy Spilling and her husband Colin have invested in four rental properties to finance their retirement – including two apartments in Salford “mortgaged at the handle”.
These two apartments are in a building where many coatings have proven to be dangerous.
The government will finance the dismissal, but because the couple has more than three properties, they are also unqualified tenants and will have to pay the appointments at the fire tower.
“Everything we have planned would be through the window,” said Suzy. “How were we going to raise the necessary funds? We could be on the hook for £ 100,000 for each of our two apartments.”
It is estimated that there are 385,000 apartments in England belonging to unskilled bils like Suzy and Colin, according to the end of our coating scandal.
The couple returned to work to save money “but there is no way that we can cover the amount we are going to have to pay,” she added.
“Our lives are pending. We don’t know when it will end.”
Lawyer Ms. Ramsden said: “There was a 40% drop in lease transactions due to problems with the law. It must be considered urgent so that we can work better for everyone.”
A government spokesperson told the BBC that he would consider changes to the Building Safety Act and examine how he can offer greater cost protection.
