Oldham residents locked out of flats for three years over fire safety

Fozia Malik says it is "absolutely ridiculous" how long it is taking to reopen the apartments

A woman who has been waiting more than three years to return to her apartment after it was deemed a safety risk has said her mental health has been affected and she cries every day.

Fozia Malik lived in one of 32 flats in Victory Apartments in Oldham before the building was closed in November 2020.

She said she could not understand why the work was taking so long.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said a prohibition notice was "a matter of last resort".

The managing agent said it had been working with the fire service to resolve the issues, which include problems with internal fire compartmentation, and was working on proposals for a new fire alarm system.

Residents said they had paid thousands of pounds in management fees to Residential Management Group (RMG) since the building was shut and still did not know when it would reopen.

Ms Malik, who is now living in student accommodation, said: "Mentally it's affected me so badly, I cry every day."

The 47-year-old added: "The room when I come here, my heart bleeds and I am full of tears.

"It happened exactly when Covid erupted and can you imagine the whole world was in [a] pandemic situation and I had nowhere to go."

The doors were locked in November 2020

Ms Malik said when she asked for a time frame on when she could return, she could not get an answer.

"It's not a NASA project, it's just a building, you have to fix it, it's absolutely ridiculous," she added.

Kursat Uysal, 49, from Saddleworth, owns one of the flats at the site and was renting it out at the time the prohibition notice was served.

"Not only have we lost income on rent, we've paid nearly £14,000 over three years in management fees, he said.

"Our flat now has no value. We can't sell it, we can't mortgage it."

Kursat Uysal has been renting out one of the flats and now says it "has no value"

Mr Uysal said: "I feel that both RMG and the fire service have not put any priority on this and are not considering the impact on people."

He added: "We just want to know what is being done and when they are going to open the building.

"For more than three years we've been paying RMG and we've never been given an opening date."

Lee Ashworth, 74, from Royton in Oldham, owns two apartments in the building and said he had been paying £500 in management fees and £150 ground rent per month for each apartment since the building was closed.

"We don't seem to be progressing at all. Why isn't it open? One side seems to blame the other. It's just bouncing backwards and forwards.

"These flats are our pension and livelihood. It leaves us tight for money. We can't sell because no-one will buy a locked up flat."

The fire service said the prohibition notice was a "last resort"

An RMG statement said: "Proposals for the alarm have been submitted to the fire service who has requested further amendments, which the fire engineers are working on as a priority.

"We hope to have positive progress for the residents soon.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a specific date for when the building will be reopened but all efforts are being made to ensure this progresses as quickly as possible."

GMFRS said it had taken a "significant length of time" for a detailed proposal to be provided to the fire service and it would be reviewing that before writing to interested parties with "next steps".

It added: "The prohibition of any building is a significant step and is only taken as a matter of last resort when there is no other option to protect the public.

"The safe reoccupation of the Victory Apartments is the priority for GMFRS and there has been extensive advice and engagement with representatives of the building's owner on the steps necessary to allow the Prohibition Notice to be lifted."