Manchester leaseholders spared £10k cladding bill

Cypress Place and Vallea Court were found to have cladding identical to that on Grenfell Tower

Leaseholders in two high-rise blocks have spoken of their relief that they will not have to pay £10,000 each to replace dangerous cladding.

Freeholder Pemberstone has announced a fund has been set up to pay for the work at Cypress Place and Vallea Court in Manchester.

Leaseholder Beverley Reynolds-Logue said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I don't' know whether to laugh or cry."

A tribunal ruled in July each resident had to pay £10,000 to replace cladding.

"It's been a really long, hard slog. I think I want to cry more than anything. It's just been a massive burden lifted," Ms Reynolds-Logue, who lives in Vallea Court, said.

"I would never want anyone else to go through what we have gone through," she added.

'Life on hold'

Fellow leaseholder Mike Hayes, who bought his flat in neighbouring Cypress Place five-and-a-half-years ago, said: "I'm delighted - my life has been on hold."

"I couldn't even sell it - the flat had become worthless," he added.

The decision to remove the cladding from the blocks came as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017.

A tribunal ruled in July the leaseholders had to pay a £10,000 removal fee.

However, the cost is now going to be met by a fund set up between Pemberstone, which owns the freehold to the flats, and developers Lendlease.

A Pemberstone spokesman said: "We have been in dialogue with various interested parties for some time to arrive at a solution for the replacement of the cladding as quickly as possible without residents having to pay.

"We are pleased that this process has now resulted in a positive outcome and a satisfactory way forward."

The government had previously urged landlords and freeholders to not pass costs of removal work on to leaseholders.