Tenants in emergency housing amid unsafe flats

The upper residential floors of Eastgate House are owned by Southern Housing Group

A total of 100 tenants have been forced into emergency or temporary accommodation after a block of flats in Surrey was declared structurally unsafe, a council says.

An emergency prohibition order was issued over the condition of Eastgate House in Woking.

Woking Borough Council says the notice prohibits the use of the building until further testing has been carried out.

Southern Housing Group said it was working to accommodate all affected residents.

Further tests on the concrete walls and ceilings have been ordered by the council after a structural appraisal report was carried on 23 November.

'Extremely anxious'

Liam Lyons, who is a Lib Dem councillor on Woking Borough Council and has lived at Eastgate House since it opened in 2005, said it had been “extremely anxious and disruptive” for all residents involved.

“It’s not been easy,” he told BBC Radio Surrey. “But I have some sympathy for Southern Housing because we’re talking about 100 people here who are very suddenly requiring a home.

“There aren’t 100 empty homes in Woking, I wish there were as it’d solve all sorts of problems.”

The upper residential floors of Eastgate House are owned by Southern Housing Group, while the ground floor contains commercial premises, which are under separate individual ownership.

Southern Housing said the situation was “unsettling and upsetting” for tenants.

The housing provider said no decision on the future of the building would be made while investigations continued.