Beware buying a flat in England
Be extremely cautious buying new build flats in the UK. The re-sale market is stalled. This is because of the regulatory fallout following the Grenfell fire of June 2017, in which 72 people died. Re-sales of these flats have collapsed, banks will not lend on them and owners are facing huge bills to make the buildings safe. This market is likely to be impacted for some years.
Buyers need to research carefully before proceeding: www.leaseholdknowledge.com would be a good place to start.
National Day of Developer Protests: 5 June – End Our Cladding Scandal
Join leaseholders across the country as they protest outside new home sales offices and other locations. Want to hit your developer where it hurts? Target their future sales! Join leaseholders across the country on Saturday 5 June 2021 as they protest outside new home sales offices. Why are we doing this?
全球樓行｜新地英國合作發展商被揭外牆用易燃物料 倫敦新盤逾百人示威 居民狠批 ｜ 蘋果日報
新地（016）郭氏家族基金（KFI）與英國的合作夥伴Ballymore推出的樓盤Milharbour，日前有逾百名示威者聚集。據悉，Ballymore旗下物業早前發生火警，成為民怨導火線，令新地受累成為居民示威目標。雖然起火樓盤與新地無關，卻引發居民關注發展商Ballymore多年未有拆卸大廈外牆的易燃物料。 …
Alert to Hong Kong investors: Fire safety needs spell stiff fees in London properties ｜ Apple Daily
Homeowners and the developer of a London housing complex are locking horns over property management costs linked to fire safety repairs, and the dispute has spilled over to another project whose codevelopers are tycoons in Hong Kong, the Kwok family.
On Saturday 5 2021 a series of impromptu demonstrations is taking place outside the sales offices of plc housebuilders whose failings have added to the fire safety defects bill facing leaseholders.
It is arguable who is most to blame over the cladding disaster – officials or housebuilders – and neither wants to press matters with anything like a court ruling which would establish blame. But the EWS1 surveys are also revealing a host of other build safety defects, including the lack of fire compartmentation in many cases, which would have been against regulations at the time of construction.
While government is gently telling off housebuilders with a £2 billion industry-wide levy payable over 10 years, it is also happy to dump the remediation costs on leaseholders: the innocent consumers in this scandal.
They will have to pay to put right the failings of others, with no access to the £5.1 billion Building Safety Fund for sites less than 18 metres high.
The result? A series of demonstrations at the offices of builders like Countryside Properties plc (which was also involved in the 10-year doubling ground rent scandal); Bellway, Ballymore, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Lend Lease, Weston Homes among others.
Protests 5th June
All protests start at 12pm unless otherwise specified
London
Beckton Parkside – Bellway (Barking Riverside residents)
Beckton Parkside Bellway Sales office, Beckton, London, E6 5YR
https://www.facebook.com/events/824156535201426/?active_tab=discussion
Greenwich – Bellway 11:00AM
The River Gardens
Royal Greenwich, London, SE10 0NT
East Ham, Newham – Barratt
Upton Gardens Sales Office, London, E13 9DP
https://www.facebook.com/events/2877597039169915/?ref=newsfeed
Chipping Barnet – Countryside
Brooke Valley Gardens, Chipping Barnet, London, EN5 2FL
Clapton/Stamford Hill – Countryside
Countryside Sales Office, Castlewood Road, Stamford Hill, London E5 9AJ Stamford Hill
Facebook: https://fb.me/e/13V54ptMn
Hayes – Ballymore
High Point Village, Hayes and Harlington, UB3 4FF
Canary Wharf – Ballymore
Wardian, Marsh Wall, London, E14 9TP
Harrow – Hyde and Barratts
Sales Office at Eastman Village, Harrow View East, HA1 4GL
South of England
Brighton – Barratt
Fenchurch walk (outside Sainsbury’s New England Street), BN1 4GX
East of England
Southend-on-Sea – Weston Homes
Victoria Avenue, Weston Homes sales office, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6DL
Ipswich – Taylor Wimpey – 10:00 AM
Wolsey Grange, Vale View Road, Ipswich, IP2 OUA
Stevenage – General Protest
Town Square, Stevenage, SG1 1GP
Midlands
Birmingham – Awareness Raising City Centre
Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD
North
Manchester – Bellway
The Mount, George Street, Greater Manchester, M25 9WS
Manchester – Lendlease
Manchester Town Hall, Albert Square, Manchester, M2 5DB
Sheffield – Awareness Raising / Information Stall 11.30am
Sheffield City Council, Fargate, S1 2HD
Wales
Cardiff/Plasdwr – Redrow
Redrow sales office, Llantrisant Road, Cardiff, CF5 2PY
Related posts:
As 17% of cladding leaseholders consider bankruptcy, LKP funding proposal offers alternative to successive crises facing flat-owners
Brindley House cladding leaseholders face eviction, reports BBC R4 You and Yours
Why the law won’t help cladding leaseholders
Will CMA investigation at last give cheated leaseholders the chance to sue plc house builders?
Brokenshire to meet house builders and freehold investors … but no leaseholders
Analysis of where next with the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill
