Flat owner feels 'trapped' in £180K apartment after being hit with £100K bill ...

Flat owner feels 'trapped' in £180K apartment after being hit with £100K bill ...
Flat owner feels 'trapped' in £180K apartment after being hit with £100K bill ...

A flat owner says she feels 'trapped' in a fire hazard apartment after being hit with a whopping £100,000 bill for cladding repairs.

Emilie Boswell, 26, bought her dream waterfront property for £180,000 in May 2018 and a fire safety report concluded there were 'no obvious signs of cladding'.

But a year later, residents in the apartment block in the Leeds Dock area of West Yorkshire were told they needed round-the-clock fire patrols.

Now Ms Boswell has been hit with a bill of £101,828 for repairs that are needed to bring her flat up to standard.

Leaseholders in the block, which holds 181 flats, hoped to utilise the government's Building Safety Fund, but only some of the materials are eligible for funding.

The application for grants cannot proceed until the freeholder signs a contract, which it hasn't yet done.

In the aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy, the Government issued guidance stating buildings of all heights required an EWS1 form proving they did not pose a fire risk. 

The move raised the number of flats caught out by the rules from 307,000 to 1.27million. 

But in a surprise U-turn earlier this year, ministers said that those in flat blocks less than 18m tall would no longer need a fire safety certificate to sell their homes.  

Emilie Boswell (pictured on the day she moved into her apartment), 26, bought her dream waterfront property for £180,000 in May 2018 and a fire safety report concluded there were 'no obvious signs of cladding'

Emilie Boswell (pictured on the day she moved into her apartment), 26, bought her dream waterfront property for £180,000 in May 2018 and a fire safety report concluded there were 'no obvious signs of cladding'

Emilie said: 'I thought I was buying the dream apartment, in the city centre, overlooking the water.

'To be told it's so dangerous we have to have people patrol the building 24/7 to look for any signs of fire is scary.

'It's caused really bad anxiety. It's had an enormous impact on my mental health.

'I can't plan anything, I don't want to stay here, but I won't be able to sell the flat for years. I feel trapped.

'Leaseholders have done nothing wrong and we're the ones paying the price. It's horrendous.'

Emilie thought she was buying her dream apartment in May 2018, when she got the keys to the plush flat in Leeds city centre.

As it was less than a year after the Grenfell tragedy, she ordered a fire safety report which found no obvious use of cladding.

But in November 2019, the block's management company told Emilie the building actually had cladding at the top of the building.

It also had timber cladding and a white render system which were found to be flammable.

A 24-hour patrol, whose job it was to look

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