Barnet residents have spoken of their outrage after being told they must pay up to £23,000 to reclad their ex-council properties over fire safety concerns.
A total of 426 homeowners have been told by Barnet Council they must stump up thousands for their ex-council homes to be reclad, over fears their timber frames and UPVC and wood cladding pose a fire risk.
Residents have described the situation as “not fair” and “a joke”, and are urgently calling for the Government to step in to help fund the works.
“We can’t afford it,” one told the Standard, while another said: “I don't want to get into any more debt than I am.”
After a fire tore through a terrace of council homes in Finchley last summer, Barnet Council launched an investigation that found the buildings’ timber frames and UPVC cladding helped the flames spread rapidly.
It then found more than 580 similar timber-framed homes in the borough, which it says pose a risk and must now be reclad.
Around 150 are council-owned properties, which the authority will reclad at a cost of £3.6million.
But 426 are ex-council properties bought through the Government’s Right to Buy scheme, which the council says it “does not have a budget or resources” to reclad.
Instead, owners must cover the cost of recladding, estimated to cost between £14,000 and £23,000 per property depending on size.
Caro Polhill, who is among homeowners affected, has set up a petition calling on the Government to extend its Building Safety Fund to cover low-rise buildings such as those in Barnet.
Set up following the Grenfell Tower disaster, the fund helps finance the remediation of unsafe cladding, but currently only covers buildings 11m or taller.
“We fall under that 11m thereshold so we're in a position of no support,” said Mrs Polhill, 34, who lives a mid-terrace in Colchester Road with her husband and twin sister.
“Our houses are all ex-council homes. [The council] sold them to us under right to buy in the 80s, and they were bought in good faith. We think they are liable, or at least partly liable for the costs.”
Barnet Council is also calling for the Government to extend its financial support to help reclad low-rise buildings.
Mrs Polhill says the situation in Barnet has left people “living in fear” over the safety of their homes and the “huge financial burden” they face.
“Lots of people are really anxious about it,” she said, adding that one resident has had suicidal thoughts since getting the council’s notice last month.
The council is currently planning to offer a loan and repayment plan to help residents manage the cost, but many fear being unable to afford the repayments.
The loan scheme will only be available to those who opt to use the council’s contractors, and details including interest rates have not been confirmed.
“I don't have any children – me, my husband and my sister are full-time working adults with good jobs, and we can't figure out where the money for the loan will come from,” said Mrs Polhill.
“I can't even imagine what it’s like for families with only one parent earning, or people who are retired and living on their pension.
“I did try going to the bank and they declined me for a loan, so how can the council turn to me and say ‘we've decided you can have one’? And who knows what the interest could be?
“Even if somebody today could afford the loan, what if their mortgage goes up? People will have to borrow more money…people are going to end up in so much debt that they have to sell their homes.”
Grandmother Liz Galloway, who lives in Brook Meadow, said the amount residents are being asked to pay is “inconceivable”.
“I am 77-year-old widow with two grandchildren and this blow has affected me mentally as I really have no idea how I could ever finance something like this.”
Andrea Corr, who lives in Watling Avenue with her husband and two young sons, says she feels the decision to reclad the homes is “just not proportional to the risk”.
“Our childcare bills are £1,200 a month. With all the other rises - food and fuel, council tax, green bins - we’re having to spend thousands a month just to survive,” she said.
“How can you send a letter saying you are expected now to pay for all these costs, for a mistake that you didn't make?
“I can't take out another loan. We can’t afford it.
“It’s just really worrying. At night time you're worrying ‘how am I going to pay for this if they actually enforce it?’”
Regina Kelly lives with her husband and two adult sons in Barnfield Road, Burnt Oak, in a home they bought more than 28 years ago.
“We're all very stressed,” she told the Standard. “I don't want to get into any more debt than I am, or I have to be.”
Tony Bourke, 72, has lived on the Watling Estate his whole life. He and his wife bought their current end-of-terrace house in Montrose Avenue in the 80s.
He described the prospect of having to borrow money to pay for recladding as “devastating”.
Barnet Council says it fears this is “the tip of the iceberg” of a national crisis, and that many more homes across the country built using the could need recladding.
The homes in question were built between the 1930s and 1960s, using four different types of construction. The cladding is believed to have been installed in the late 1980s.
Of the 586 homes, 459 of them fall within the Burnt Oak ward of Hendon. A further 116 are in Chipping Barnet, split between Brunswick Park and Totteridge and Woodside wards. Ten others are in West Finchley.
A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “We really understand the worry and concern that residents are feeling and we are here to work with them to help support them through this.
“We are in contact with Government and the Regulator and will continue to seek their guidance and press for support for homeowners.
“Likewise, the Local Government Association has called for national guidelines to support councils with this issue. As we have seen post-Grenfell for high rise blocks, we need a coordinated scheme at a national level for this to be truly effective.
“The houses in question were not built by Barnet Council but were inherited from the Greater London Council and were subsequently purchased under the right to buy.
“We are working to identify the most cost-effective solution for helping residents make their homes safer.
“Unfortunately, the likely high cost of remediation for householders will require considerable financial support and the council does not have a budget or resources to pay for work to private homes.
“Currently, there are no grants available for owners of low-rise homes, so we are arranging an optional loan scheme to help and will provide any assistance we are able to. We have written to the Secretary of State to see what extra support can be provided to our residents facing large bills for necessary fire safety works.
“We have also asked Government to review policy which currently omits low-rise homes from the cladding funding available and we await their response.
“We are about to start detailed assessments of each house recognised to be at risk from their UPVC or timber cladding. This will help us to work with each of the residents to identify the level of risk at their property and the works, if any, needed to remediate it.
“We are of course keen to ensure that any work required by residents is proportionate.”
Matthew Offord, Conservative MP for Hendon, has raised the issue in the Commons, asking how the Government will help people who have found themselves facing the “difficult financial situation”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the Government is aware of the action being taken by Barnet Council and “continue to engage with them to better understand what they are doing to respond to risks they have identified”.
“The Building Safety Regulator is keeping the situation under review, and we will continue to liaise with the them and the council to determine whether further action is necessary,” they added.
Visit the website set up by campaigners here. Visit the petition here.
