Cladding: Leeds flat owners on 'purgatory' of cladding bill fears

Reece Garcia said flat owners are "crying out" for a solution

An apartment owner facing a large bill for fire safety improvements has said it is "like living in purgatory".

Reece Garcia, 33, received a service charge for £103,000 for his apartment in a high-rise building in Leeds.

He said the size of the bill and his inability to sell the property meant he and his partner were "trapped".

The building's management agent said it was not seeking payments at this time and was negotiating with government over grants to cover remedial work.

Mr Garcia's building in Leeds Dock is one of many across the country requiring fire safety improvement works.

These came to light after inspections following concerns raised by the Grenfell fire in 2017.

The senior lecturer, who lives with his partner and baby, said: "We were aware that a bill was coming, we had no idea it would be anywhere near that amount."

'Very worried'

He said it has had a major impact on his family life and meant they could not plan to have another child.

"In a nutshell, we are mid-thirties we are aware we don't have all the time in the world. We are trapped here, we can't move out.

"We are very much on hold, it's like purgatory."

Mr Garcia said they had been told the remedial work was due to start in January 2022, but would take 14 months to complete.

"Realistically it could be two years before we can sell, now we are very worried about living on a building site, we don't have room for any additions."

Emilie Boswell said her only option if she has to pay would be bankruptcy

Emilie Boswell is another resident in the same block. Her service charge bill for £101,000 left her "shocked".

"I never expected it would be anywhere near six figures, its a feeling of helplessness," she said.

"It's so unfair, we bought these flats in good faith and we're being asked to pay the price for other people's mistakes."

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Connor Scherer, building safety manager for the LIV Group, said as the management agent is was their responsibility to update leaseholders on the annual service charge forecast.

"While the estimated cost of the remediation must be accounted for in the service charge, the eventual cost to leaseholders will only be determined after our application for the government-backed Building Safety Fund (BSF) is finalised."

He said the government had confirmed the building was eligible and they were in discussions with officials.

"There are no plans to collect or seek remuneration to cover the remediation work at this time," he added.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said they had already provided £400,000 to start safety works at the block and were working with the building's owner's to help them gain access to extra funding.

They added: "We do not want anyone to miss out on the support we are providing through the Building Safety Fund and have been flexible to ensure those who need this funding get it."