Following ongoing fire safety concerns, Grey GR Limited Partnership has offered to buy back the leases of around 80 flats at Cardinal Lofts, Ipswich.  

The block has been left unoccupied for much of this year after a full evacuation of the residential building took place in February 2023. Freeholder Grey GR has now announced that it has sent letters to the leaseholders of 80 flats of the nine-storey block, offering to buy back their leases.  

Back in November 2022, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) issued a prohibition notice to the upper floors of the nine-storey block of flats, after a series of fire safety investigations revealed the presence of "combustible materials" on the building’s exterior. A second prohibition notice was then issued in February 2023, when the defects were found to be “significantly worse” than initially thought, making the block of flats “unsafe for occupation”.

As previously reported by the FPA, residents of Cardinal Lofts also had their service charges and ground rents for the year refunded by the building owners. At the time, a spokesperson had said the company had conducted “extensive and intrusive investigations” in order to fully understand the scale of the issues. As reported by BBC News earlier this year, surveys of the residential building identified 17 separate defects, including – among others – combustible insulation and external cladding, lack of fire stopping, non-compliant fire doors, “significant void areas for potential fire and smoke between added floors”, non-compliant combustible wooden balconies, lack of external wall fire breaks, and a lack of “effective internal partitioning to prevent vertical and horizontal fire and smoke spread”.  

Now, in letters dated 5 October 2023 and sent to the leaseholders of around 80 flats, Grey GR said: “We know this period has been difficult, and you would like to be able to have some closure from the situation we have all found ourselves in at Cardinal Lofts. We have now concluded the options appraisal process and would like to propose a solution.  

“We would like to propose that Grey GR buys back your leasehold apartment from you. We have included our offer value below. If you own multiple properties, you will receive a letter for each.”  

Grey GR added that each offer was “specific to your individual property at Cardinal Lofts, including floor space, bedrooms, and bathrooms”. The company added that the offer was based on a July 2023 valuation and on the assumption that the “building has no building safety defects and is in good condition”.  

The letter continued, “Grey GR sought valuations from several surveyors with an understanding of the local Ipswich market and three surveyors have provided us with reports and valuations. Our above offer is based on the median average of the three valuations received.” 

Campaign group, Ipswich Cladiators said in a statement that the situation had brought about “mixed emotions” for those involved.  

"[It is] positive that the current freeholder has provided a route out of the building safety crisis for leaseholders who have been left in limbo from a catastrophic failure in construction, building inspections regime, and toxic leasehold tenure," the statement read.  

According to BBC News, Grey GR released another statement outlining its decision to offer a buy-back option for leaseholders, reiterating that the company believed that this was the “fairest and most equitable solution for all.

"The issues at Cardinal Lofts are unique and the exceptional nature of those issues means that Grey is now offering to buy back leases from all leaseholders within the building, based on independent market valuations assuming no building safety issues are present. 

"Given due consideration to our fiduciary duties and the disproportionate costs of any remediation plan, we are confident that this is the best outcome possible based on the extent of issues and the options available."