Inside Suffolk's building safety crisis: Christmas in the dark
The residents at St Francis Tower have been living inside a shrink-wrapped building since May this year
Caroline Haydon-Knowell moved to Ipswich to be closer to her family. She found a great one bedroom apartment on the fifteenth floor of a tower block with spectacular views. Then, she woke up one morning in May to find that the whole building was cast into what seemed like perennial darkness.
"It feels really suffocating. Like we're being sealed in."
St Francis Tower was one of Ipswich's first high-rises and is the second-tallest building in town. Today, it sticks out like a sore thumb, with plastic shrink-wrap covering most of the hulking structure as work to remove unsafe cladding continues.
Ms Haydon-Knowell lives on the fifteenth floor of the tower block. She describes how living in the tower block has left her feeling suffocated and uncomfortable.
"It's just depressing. You feel closed-in and isolated. I have to phone a friend everyday to find out what the weather's like, because you've never got any idea what's going on outside.
"I've gone through stages where I didn't even want to get out which is strange because you sort of lose touch with reality. For others, it's been the opposite and they're out the whole day just to be able to get some fresh air and sunlight."
The residents in St Francis Tower will celebrate Christmas this year in these conditions.
"One of the main things that everybody had been very keen for, was to have small windows cut out in the plastic so we could see outside but unfortunately that hasn't happened and there's no indication that it will happen any time soon" Ms Haydon-Knowell says.
There are also practical impacts that residents are dealing with as a result of the shrink-wrap. She explains, "Since they've removed all the insulation in preparation to re-clad, it's meant that there's only the mental framework of the building and thin plasterboard of our flats and then nothing.
"My neighbour is now having to spend around £40 a week on electric. In general, everyone is suffering doubled electric bills from trying to keep their homes warm and well-lit the whole time."
St Francis Tower was one of the first buildings in Ipswich to get access to money from the Government's Building Safety Fund to pay for the removal of flammable cladding. Although everyone knew that remediation work was needed and going to be funded, the tenants weren't made aware initially how much they'll have to fork out and when the work will start.
"When the shrink-wrap went around the building, it felt really suffocating. And because Block Management UK didn't give us any information, we didn't know what was happening and it was a complete shock", she says.
Block Management are a Suffolk-based property management company with buildings all across the country, including St Francis Tower in their portfolio. Ms Haydon-Knowell says she tried reaching out to them to get some clarity into the situation but got no response. She then created a Facebook group, 'Shrinkwrapped Residents' and brought the issue to the attention of Ipswich MP Tom Hunt.
He raised the issue in Parliament and Ms Haydon-Knowell says only after this did they start getting regular communication with Block Management UK.
They told us in a statement: "We have always kept the lettings agents – along with all other stakeholders - up-to-date and stressed that they pass on our information as quickly as possible to their tenants.
"In addition, we have also tried to communicate with each flat directly through a variety of methods including notifications and updates via email, letters posted directly through doors/letterboxes meetings, in person communication, on site presence, online client portal, over the phone and through an on-site lobby TV screen."
Ms Haydon-Knowell stresses that this happened only after they raised the issue with the media. They receive prompt communication from Block Management UK now but Ms Haydon-Knowell feels the tenants should have been informed from the start.
"At no stage did anyone inform the residents living here, particularly the tenants, about the work because it wasn't in any of their best interests. The leaseholders were already struggling with their homes being valued at zero (owing to the fire safety risks the cladding posed) understandably they didn't want to tell their tenants that the building was going to shrink-wrapped for another year, or even 18 months.
"Block Management UK hadn't given any of this information to the residents either. It was just as though we were not important during the process at all. They had given no consideration to the families and people living inside the block and how the shrink-wrap would affect our daily lives.
"To just not tell us, for all of their own interests was appalling. I think definitely by law, you should required to tell the people who will actually have to live inside that."
Although she originally planned on moving out, after having fought this battle she wants to see what the other side looks like. "I miss the beautiful views from the 15th floor. I could see for miles across the town: the waterfront, the Orwell Bridge. I can see the sunrise and sunset from my windows and the huge expansive skies.
"I look forward to seeing that again."
We'll be covering the ongoing cladding crisis in Suffolk over the coming weeks.