Cardinal Lofts: Ipswich leaseholders receive buy-back offer

Around 100 residents of the nine-storey block were asked to leave their homes in February

An offer has been made to buy back the leases of 80 flats in a tower with serious defects.

Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich was evacuated after a fire service report deemed it unsafe.

Surveys have also revealed additional structural problems at the waterfront property.

Freeholder Grey GR said it had obtained fair valuations for the flats and that leaseholders had until 19 October to accept the offer.

The leaseholders have been offered undisclosed amounts of money to sell their interest in Cardinal Lofts

The company, which is owned by a £30bn pension fund, wrote to the leaseholders with an amount it was prepared to pay for the purchase of their properties.

Neither those leaseholders contacted by the BBC or Grey GR would disclose any figures.

A leaseholder source said the offer was at "the lower end of the market".

The letter to leaseholders stated: "Grey GR sought valuations from several surveyors with an understanding of the local Ipswich market and three surveyors have provided us with reports and valuations.

"Our offer above is based on the median average of the three valuations received."

'Catastrophic failure'

A spokesman for campaign group Ipswich Cladiators, Chu Man, described "mixed emotions".

"It is positive that the current freeholder has provided a route out of the building safety crisis for leaseholders who have been left in limbo from a catastrophic failure in construction, building inspections regime, and toxic leasehold tenure," he said.

Mr Man added: "The mental and financial scars have been left on so many lives not just in Ipswich but across the country as leaseholders everywhere are still paying the price."

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Cardinal Lofts is one of several properties across the town that were identified as having combustible materials in its cladding.

Around 100 residents of the nine-storey block were asked to leave their homes in February after a safety report found they were in immediate danger from fire.

During the previous November, the upper floors were evacuated late at night when they were deemed unsafe for occupation.

Grey GR commissioned surveys that identified 17 separate defects including a lack of fire stopping, inadequate plumbing and a failure of structural reinforced concrete at basement level.

Leaseholders were informed the upper part of the building, consisting of floors 5-9 and which were added in 2015-16, were built using lightweight steel that was not of an adequate strength and quality.

Seventeen separate defects were identified at Cardinal Lofts following so-called "intrusive" surveys

In the offer letter to leaseholders, Grey GR said it had "no way" of knowing the extent of the issues in Cardinal Lofts when it took control of the property.

Ipswich Borough Council previously declined to comment when asked why the building was signed off despite not complying with building regulations at the time.

In a statement, Grey GR said: "The issues at Cardinal Lofts are unique and the exceptional nature of those issues means that Grey is now offering to buy back leases from all leaseholders within the building, based on independent market valuations assuming no building safety issues are present.

"We believe this is the fairest and most equitable solution for all.

"Given due consideration to our fiduciary duties and the disproportionate costs of any remediation plan, we are confident that this is the best outcome possible based on the extent of issues and the options available."