Ipswich MP "won't rest" until there's answers for cladding issue
Leaseholders at Cardinal Lofts are having to pay for their own fire wardens.
A 2018 survey carried out following the Grenfell tragedy found the building along the waterfront was minimal risk, but a recent inspection found there are problems with "combustible materials" on the exterior.
Residents were shocked and frustrated to find that a waking watch service had been deployed there, which they are expected to pay £300 per month for.
Block Management UK, who manage the building, apparently implemented the service without consulting any of the residents, a move which has been described by the local MP as unacceptable.
Tom Hunt said: "The way in which Cardinal Lofts' residents have found out about this latest demand, at a time of global pandemic when a lot of us are experiencing increased anxieties and concerns, is totally wrong.
"I will be, in many ways, looking to raise this up the Government's agenda and that will include looking to hold to account Block Management.".
Mr Hunt has previously tried to contact the company regarding a similar issue with cladding at St Francis Tower in the town, but didn't prove successful.
We have also contacted Block Management UK for comment.
Clair Hamblion is one of the residents who have been lumped with the cost of the fire warden patrols: "It's an absolute injustice that leaseholders are being expected to pay these costs when we've bought these properties in good faith. These buildings must have been signed off by building regulators when they were built as being safe in terms of fire.
"We should not be having to pick up the cost for this."
Tom Hunt has been in contact with Claire recently and expressed his support to her and other residents, he told us he "won't rest" until there are "positive answers" in response to the issue.
The cladding scandal is ongoing across the country with many people facing similar problems to those at Cardinal Lofts, which Mr Hunt admits the Government hasn't been as "quick or sometimes as extensive" as he would have liked.
But he is hopeful it will be resolved: "It's not going to go anywhere anytime soon, it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue, there are more and more examples.
"But I think there are more and more members of parliament now, who are from all different political parties, whose constituents' lives are being touched by this and they are becoming more and more engaged."