NEARLY 900 residents of a six block development in London are to be moved out ‘immediately’ due to ‘serious safety concerns’ relating to the construction and fire safety of the buildings.
The Guardian reported on the announcement by housing association Notting Hill Genesis that the near 900 residents of the Paragon development in Brentford ‘are being moved out immediately’ due to the ‘serious safety concerns’ discovered ‘relating to the construction of the blocks. Residents, the majority of whom are students, were told on Monday morning they would need to leave their homes, with some to move into nearby hotels, and others moved to student halls of residence.
Notting Hill Genesis said that the move was made after expert advice that the buildings’ construction ‘may be putting residents at risk’, and that all residents ‘will be asked to leave immediately in order to protect their health and safety while further investigative work is undertaken’. The Guardian described a ‘plethora’ of structural and fire safety issues being discovered after a series of checks were undertaken, ‘some carried out after the fire at Grenfell Tower’.
These ‘required further investigation’, and as such Notting Hill Genesis had ‘identified accommodation for everyone to move into this week’, and was also providing financial support to residents of the 1,059 homes. In total, 858 residents will have to move from the development, situated next to the M4 motorway and consisting of six blocks ranging in height from four to 17 storeys.
The students are from both the University of West London and Imperial College London, with 105 shared ownership leaseholders also residents of the blocks, alongside 65 people paying discounted rent ‘as part of a scheme aimed at key workers and others’. Completed in 2006, the development was acquired in 2009 by the housing association, whose group chief executive Kate Davies gave a statement about the situation.
She commented: ‘We believe we have no choice but to ask people to leave their homes. I understand that Paragon residents may feel angry or alarmed by this news, as they have every right to be. This is a very distressing time, and we are genuinely sorry for the huge amount of disruption and uncertainty this situation will cause.
‘This is a complex situation and we don’t yet have all the answers. We are working to uncover the full extent of the issues at Paragon so that we can provide residents with clarity about timescales, next steps and options as quickly as possible.’
Notting Hill Genesis added that it was ‘doing all it could’ to support residents, working with the two universities to arrange new accommodation for this week, and said in turn that the problems went ‘wider than a cladding issue’, as the cladding is not combustible. It noted that ‘earlier building performance issues, together with fire safety issues related to the cladding and the subsequent new government guidance since the fire at Grenfell Tower’, had ‘triggered’ safety checks.
These were undertaken by technical consultants, and ‘each revealed further problems with this development’, it added. A spokeswoman acknowledged the situation was probably ‘more unsettling’ for residents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as ‘it is likely some will be self-isolating’, and she said that ‘we will work with those individuals and take advice’.