Residents of Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich facing a year out of 'fire risk' flats
People living in the top three floors of the apartment complex have been told safety work will take up to a year to complete
Last updated 16th Dec 2022
Residents of an apartment building in Ipswich have been told they face a year living in temporary accomodation to allow for urgent fire safety improvements to their homes.
People living in 15 apartments on the top three floors of Cardinal Lofts were forced to leave in November as their flats were deemed too much of a fire risk.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue issued a prohibition notice to the company managing the building after finding that not enough had been done to make the upper floors safe.
The notice covers flats on floors seven to nine, although residents in the rest of the complex are being allowed to stay.
Improvement work was already underway at the time of the evacuation, with residents already paying for a 'waking watch' to spot fires while safety measures were upgraded.
In a post on social media, campaign group Ipswich Cladiators said: "exactly one month since the partial evacuation of Cardinal Lofts, we've been told that works to fix the AOVs & missing fire breaks will commence next month."
"Remedial works will last 12 months & the 15 homes will be uninhabitable during this time.
"This means we face the grim reality that residents from the top three floors will be in temporary accommodation & unable to return home until January 2024.
"This isn't a typo... January 2024."
Concerns were first raised about Cardinal Lofts, close to the Waterfront, in 2020 - when a fire safety report found cladding fixed to the outside of the building could lead to flames spreading.
The Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 lead to the deaths of 72 people after combustable cladding allowed the blaze the rapidly spread across the building.