Residents' 'hell' as firm enters administration

Residents living in a block of flats in south-east London say their lives have become "a living hell" after work to replace dangerous cladding on their building ground to a halt because the building firm went into administration.

Property company Ardmore Construction Group had been removing and replacing the cladding on The Lighterman Building over a period of 18 months.

Residents say they are now left stuck in a building encased in scaffolding and protective sheeting.

The building's developer, Knight Dragon, said it had secured the site, adding: "We are now finalising a revised plan to complete the works and will update residents within four weeks."

The block on the Greenwich Peninsula is among thousands of residential buildings in England undergoing remedial work to replace external cladding.

This got under way after the introduction of new legislation which banned cladding made from combustible materials and placed new responsibilities on developers.

These were brought in following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington, which was found to have been accelerated by the building's flammable cladding.

Many residents of buildings undergoing this work in recent years have reported living in difficult conditions due to the work.

Craig Robinson, an owner-occupier of a ninth-floor flat in the Lighterman Building, said the eight months of work to replace the cladding had been a "living hell", with "deadlines always missed".

He added that since the cladding had been removed from the outside of the building, living conditions had become worse.

"We now find ourselves living in a building which essentially has no external cladding and it means that our apartments are potentially susceptible to cold, wind, water, which isn't a very nice position to be living in," he said.

"I've spoken to a lot of residents in this building; many have said just how depressed they are. I've had meetings with people who've burst out in tears for this.

"It's actually been a very stressful thing for a lot of residents here."

Craig's neighbour Sudha Bulusu said she felt trapped in a property she cannot sell.

It's a big consideration for her family who may one day consider costly assisted living for her, which would not be possible without selling the flat.

"How can we sell this flat? We can't sell this flat because nobody's going to buy with the view like this and this is going to take ages," she said.

Bulusu added that she could only open the balcony door 10cm, a worry during the summer months.

The problem is also compounded by the green protective sheeting surrounding the flat, preventing normal light coming through.

Ardmore confirmed to the BBC that it had been placed into administration.

The firm said its financial plight had been brought about by the "profound impact" of a court ruling forcing it to pay £15m to developer Crest Nicholson in remediation costs for a block of flats in Portsmouth.

The flats, built between 2007 and 2009, were found to have unsafe cladding following the introduction of the new legislation.

A spokesperson for Ardmore said: "This is a deeply disappointing outcome for the construction group, its employees and its stakeholders.

"Our focus is now on preserving value in the wider group, protecting the continuing businesses where possible, and pursuing the appeal against a judgment which we believe raises important questions for the wider industry."

Ardmore said it would continue to work with administrators, employees, clients and other stakeholders.

Dave Rogers from Building magazine told the BBC he believed Ardmore would not be a "one off" and that more building firms were likely to go bust due to the effects of the post-Grenfell legislation.

"Firms who think they have finished a project are having to go back 30 years to fix buildings.

"This legislation is going to catch a lot of firms out. A lot of builders who work on these schemes simply don't have the balance sheets to weather the amounts they're being asked to go back and pick up the tab for."

Rogers added that alternative firms would be needed to take over projects that Ardmore would not be able to finish.

This includes Britannia Place in Shoreditch, east London, a development of 350 flats including some social housing.

Residents had expected to move in by the end of the year, but industry experts say this seems unlikely.

In Hackney Wick, another Ardmore development to provide housing association flats is also facing uncertainty.

Knight Dragon, the developer of the Lighterman Building, told the BBC that it "shares residents' frustration" at the "setback".

It added: "We are sorry for the uncertainty this has caused residents and we are doing everything we can to find a solution to limit the impact."

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