Leaseholders demand to be heard ahead of Ipswich protest
Residents facing crippling bills to fix fire defective buildings say they should not have to pay
Last updated 30th Oct 2021
Leaseholders will gather at the Ipswich Waterfront today to protest Government inaction over the building safety crisis
Thousands of people nationwide are facing unpayable bills to fix fire safety defects which resident's say aren't their responsibility. Alex Dickin, organiser of the rally says the fears in leaseholders affected by the crisis are two-fold.
"Firstly, they are anxious and nervous about a fire starting in our buildings and the inability to evacuate. Secondly, they are nervous about the potential of bills landing on our door steps that they cannot afford", he adds
The event will start at 11 am at Neptune Quay and is expected to bring together affected leaseholders from across the town. Alex Dickin is the founder of cladding and fire safety crisis campaign group Ipswich Cladiators.
He says, "We are holding the rally at Ipswich Waterfront because there are many residents with apartments at the so called ‘jewel in the crown’ of Ipswich who have seen their properties valued at zero due to fire safety defects on their buildings."
The government announced in February that they were going to increase the fund for taking cladding off high-rise buildings to £5 billion The same figure was repeated at this week's budget by the Chancellor.
Mr. Dickin says "It's extremely frustrating that an announcement has been recycled and reused in order to make some potentially good headlines in the news"
"We feel quite offended actually that they're using our crisis this way", he adds.
Currently, only buildings taller than 18 metres are eligible to apply for money from the fund, while the cash is only for removing dangerous cladding and not other fire safety defects like combustible balconies or inadequate fire safety doors.
"If the Government do properly fund us and enable our homes to be safe then there's light at the end of the tunnel. At the moment it is only a partial solution, where some people who are lucky will have some remediation", he adds.