Residents told to move out of flats over fire risk

Hundreds of residents in apartment blocks in north-west London have been told to move into temporary hotel accommodation after a fire risk assessment found the buildings posed "an intolerable risk to life".

Housing association Sovereign Network Group (SNG) asked about 200 households in Grand Union Heights – a set of five apartment blocks in Alperton, Wembley, which it manages - to evacuate their homes just before midnight on 29 April.

But some residents are refusing to leave, saying "they have been left in the dark, with poor communication, little reassurance and no certainty about what happens next".

SNG said it was sorry for the "impact this situation [was] having" on residents.

Brent Council Liberal Democrats councillor Anton Georgiou said: "SNG's handling of this situation has been poor.

"Residents feel 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."

Gary Radford is among those who refused to leave.

"After [the inspection work] 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," he said.

The building is already undergoing works to rectify cladding issues.

SNG said the new problems were uncovered during those works, adding that a fire risk assessment report had categorised the building safety as "intolerable".

It highlighted issues including poorly installed sprinkler systems, lack of fire protection to the stair steelwork and high risk of fire spread within the wall voids due to ineffective or missing cavity barriers.

Nicole Sharp, chief customer officer at SNG, said: "Following advice received late on 29 April, 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."

She said SNG teams had been on site to provide support and meetings had been held with residents to give them the opportunity to ask questions.

"Resident safety is our absolute priority, and we will update residents as soon as we know the outcome of our investigations," she added.

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