Residents of the blocks in Wembley were told to leave in the middle of the night but some have so far refused
A housing association has told residents of five Wembley housing blocks to move into temporary hotel accommodation after a fire risk assessment found the building posed “an intolerable risk to life”.
An attempt was made to evacuate residents in the middle of the night but some are standing firm, claiming they have no idea of when they would be able to return home.
Just after midnight on April 29, 108 households living in Grand Union Heights – a set of five apartment blocks in Alperton, Wembley run by housing association Sovereign Network Group (SNG) – were ordered to evacuate the buildings due to fire safety concerns. The buildings are already covered in scaffolding whilst they are undergoing fire remediation works, including replacing the external cladding and installing a sprinkler system.
SNG has said it received advice from fire safety specialists late that day informing them that building is “not currently safe” for residents to remain in their homes due to concerns about “how the building could perform in the event of a fire”. Whilst many residents have already vacated the building, some have refused due to a lack of information about when they might be able to return home.
Gary Radford lives in the building with his two children and is yet to vacate his home. He said the night of the evacuation was the first he had heard about the safety issues at Grand Union Heights and was “completely unaware” until a knock on his door.
Gary told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “There was a knock at my door at around 12:30am and it was my neighbour. She was there with her toothbrush all panicky saying ‘we all have to evacuate the building and they’re putting us in hotels’.”
SNG has said it acted immediately after receiving a fire risk assessment report that categorised the building safety as “intolerable”. It highlighted issues including: poorly installed sprinkler systems; lack of fire protection to the stair steelwork; unknown load capacity of the stairs; poorly trained fire evacuation managers; and high risk of fire spread within the wall voids due to ineffective or missing cavity barriers.
The housing association told the LDRS that it took the decision to ask all households to temporarily move out of the buildings with immediate effect to protect their safety whilst it carried out further investigations.
Mr Radford feels that there has been a lack of information from SNG as to why it was necessary to demand residents vacate so urgently, or with regards to how long the whole process would take. He claims he asked housing association officers on-site that night why residents had to leave but said “they couldn’t tell me”. He feels it was done late at night in order to “catch people unaware”.
He added: “People did leave that night for hotel accommodation but I refused. I went back to bed and said ‘I’ll deal with it in the morning’. […] Gradually as time has gone on more and more have left.”
Mr Radford has refused to vacate his home as he feels hotel accommodation is not suitable for his family. He has a 17-year-old son who is in the middle of his A-level exams and a 20-year-old daughter who is doing her dissertation, as well as being anorexic.
He said: “They’re saying there will be breakfast and dinner in the hotel but she can’t eat poorly prepared, cheap food like that. I have to cook proper home-cooked meals for her to make sure she eats properly.
“They said it could take two, possibly three weeks but that’s just for the inspection work. After that’s finished you’ve got to deal with the [issue] so it’s not going to be two or three weeks – it could be months, could be years.”
Another resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, said the development has had problems ever since they moved into the building and it is “having a huge toll on my health and wellbeing”. They have moved out into temporary accommodation but said that if the situation arises again they would rather stay there “with whatever consequences that will come”.
They told the LDRS: “Our experiences have been awful with pigeon issues, fuses blowing off, bathroom shower box blowing off etc. I have used five microwaves in the last seven years and always questioned why this happens all the time – we basically live in fear after coming home from hard days’ work of serving the general public. It now made sense when I read the reports of how we all residents have lived in a dangerous environment.
“I am now concerned if we’re being asked to go back with the situation; even though SNG has mentioned that some work will be completed by this weekend and week. They need to give us the confidence and assurance that a thorough rectification will be done and completed before they phase us back.”
Councillor for Alperton, Cllr Anton Georgiou, said the situation at Grand Union Heights has become “completely unacceptable” and is calling on SNG to provide residents with “honesty, transparency and real accountability”.
Cllr Georgiou told the LDRS: “The situation at Grand Union Heights has now reached a completely unacceptable point. Families are being forced out of their homes over fire safety concerns, yet many still have no clear answers about the risks, the work needed, or how long they will be displaced for.
“SNG’s handling of this situation has been poor. Residents feel that they have been left in the dark, with poor communication, little reassurance and no certainty about what happens next. It is no surprise that some residents are refusing to leave when they have not been given proper guarantees or clear information about where they will stay and when they can return home.”
SNG has said that, during the removal of the external cladding and installation of the sprinkler system, “additional issues” were identified which required further specialist investigation and based on independent expert advice residents “must move out while we undertake further inspections”.
Chief Customer Officer at SNG, Nicole Sharp, told the LDRS: “Following advice received late on Wednesday, April 29 from our independent fire safety specialists, it was confirmed that it is not currently safe for residents to remain in their homes because of concerns about how the buildings could perform in the event of a fire.”
She added: “We understand how distressing and disruptive this is for the people living at Grand Union Heights, and we are very sorry for the impact this situation is having on them and their families. Our teams have been on site from the outset to provide support. We’ve also held a meeting with residents to give them the opportunity to ask questions, and our teams will continue to be on site throughout this period.
“We are supporting all residents to move into suitable temporary accommodation, and we are working closely with each household individually to ensure they receive the financial and practical assistance they need. Our approach has been supported by our Primary Fire Authority and we remain in close contact with the London Fire Brigade and other key local stakeholders. Resident safety is our absolute priority, and we will update residents as soon as we know the outcome of our investigations.”
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