Inside Suffolk's building safety crisis: New Year, New Hope?
People in Suffolk left in limbo as many hope for fresh starts in 2022
While most people in Suffolk woke up on 1 January 2022 with a sense of optimism, leaseholders and tenants affected by Suffolk's Building Safety Crisis rang in the New Year in dark and flammable homes.
Last month, we shared the stories of those affected by this crisis in the county. Now, we're asking one of them if they think things will be different in 2022.
"I'm afraid to say that the New Year is looking very similar to 2021"
That's according to Alex Dickin, founder of action group Ipswich Cladiators. The 28 year-old lives in Cardinal Lofts, one of the many buildings in the town where flammable cladding was used.
He told uslast monthabout the £13,000 service charge bill for 2021 that he is faced with and the fact that he was going to accept every invitation to spend the festive period outside his house.
In the time since, leaseholders were expecting an announcement from the Housing Secretary Michael Gove who said in November that he was going to offer some support to leaseholders 'imminently'. However, no such help was forthcoming.
So where does it leave those affected?
"As a leaseholder, there is literally no other option but to hold on. The ultimate choice is to continue as you are, or go to your bank and hand your keys in", Mr Dickin explains.
He adds that he hasn't reached the point of declaring bankruptcy, but admits he could be pushed if no remedy is found.
"It maybe one day that I go, 'You know what? I've just had enough of this crisis. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel' and I'm gonna take the bankruptcy option.
"But that will mean losing my home, all of my savings, the deposit that I put down on the flat itself and all of the mortgage payments that I have made over the last six years."
For now, however, he plans to continue fighting, in what promises to be an important year for leaseholders, as MPs prepare to discuss the Building Safety Bill in Parliament this spring.
"It's going to be another year of campaigning. We've tried to be as loud and noisy as possible in terms of getting our message out there, getting our stories out there.
"We are going to continue in the same way, if not more in 2022"