Cladding: Family sell Cardiff Bay flat sell for £50k less

Leigh Faulkner's flat was in the Victoria Wharf development in Cardiff Bay

Leigh Faulkner's two-bed flat had been worth around £175,000 but he sold it for £50,000 less after post-Grenfell fire safety problems emerged.

The 54-year-old father-of-two decided to "take the hit" financially because of uncertainty over government help.

He said he felt "robbed" when he sold the Cardiff Bay flat for £125,000.

A Welsh government fund for surveys to establish what repairs buildings require opens for applications on Thursday.

Housing minister Julie James said her "heart goes out" to those affected, but providing support was "fiendishly complicated".

• What makes cladding unsafe and what are your rights?

• 'Constant dread' of failed fire safety flat owners

• Fire fund 'too little, too late' for high-rise

Campaigners have been increasingly frustrated at how long the Welsh government is taking to establish a repair fund.

Many leaseholders in high-rise apartment blocks have found it impossible to sell as lenders will not provide buyers with mortgages on the properties.

They are also facing significantly increased costs to cover insurance premiums and interim fire safety measures.

Leigh Faulkner says he could not wait any longer and had to sell his flat

After several years living and working in Dubai, the Faulkners moved back into their flat in Victoria Wharf, Cardiff Bay, in 2019 and started the hunt for a house.

Before the cladding and other fire safety problems were identified, Mr Faulkner believed the flat was worth around £175,000.

It was valued at £160,000 as part of a part-exchange for a new-build house in Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan.

But that deal fell through when the problems at Victoria Wharf came to light.

With concerns about safety and his annual service charge rising to £5,000, he decided to sell the flat at auction in June.

The home was bought by a property investment company.

"It was a tough decision, there was part of me wanted to tough it out and just see how things panned out with the developer. 

"There wasn't much positive coming from Welsh government at the time, it was mostly talk. 

"So it was that uncertainty that drove us finally to say, 'yeah, let's just take the hit'.

"Forty or 50 thousand doesn't sound a lot to some people, but I'm sure for most people to lose that is painful." 

The sale enabled them to buy a house near Llantwit Major, a cheaper option than the one they had wanted in Dinas Powys.

• 'No Grenfell Tower type cladding here'

• Legal action threat over cladding support delay

• Homeowner's tears as cladding costs spiral

Mr Faulkner said after leaving school with "only a few GCSEs" and working and saving all his life, it was a "bitter pill to swallow".

"We've done the right things, we've not spent frivolously on holidays, we've never spent money we never had.

"It does feel like somebody's just come in and taken that money out of my bank account in effect." 

People who live in multi-occupied buildings over 36ft (11m) will be eligible to apply for the survey fund

Bex Ashwin from campaign group Welsh Cladiators said the opening of the fund was welcome but questioned if ministers "fully understand the urgency of the situation".

"It is also not clear if this will be of any benefit to the number of flats who have already had to undertake survey work at significant cost," she said.

'Awful situation'

Asked why the Welsh government was only now at the stage of opening a fund for survey work, Ms James said: "Because it's so fiendishly complicated is the short answer to that.

"It's nothing to do with how desperate we are to help people get themselves out of this situation.

"I don't say this lightly at all, my heart goes out to people who are stuck in this situation, it's awful.

"But we need to get it right, we need to not make a mess of it and we need to make sure we are funding the right things.

"I know it must seem glacial to the people out there living with this day to day but it's so complicated to do we wanted to get it right so I'm very pleased to be announcing it, now we hope that people will come forward immediately."

She said further funding "of various sorts" for repair work would be developed as surveys begin to be completed.

She will meet developers next week to discuss their contribution and said she is still awaiting confirmation from the UK government about the "level and timing" of funding Wales will receive as a result of fire safety spending in England.

You can see more about this story in Wales Live on the BBC iPlayer

• FORENSIC COLLISION INVESTIGATORS: Step inside the cordon with The Crash Detectives

• TRAPPED UNDERGROUND: Gleision Mine Disaster- 10 years on