A BLOCK of flats has been dubbed worthless after apartment owners claimed they can feel the building shake when a lorry goes past.
Dan Bruce, 40, is frightened that his entire building will fall apart if nothing is done to fix the endless problems.
5
5
5
Located in Camden, Dan thought he was starting an exciting new chapter when he purchased the top-floor apartment at the Agar Grove complex in March 2019.
Dan said: “I’ve got a house, it’s meant to be a home, that I paid a lot of money for, £800,000, and it’s worth zero.
“And there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.
“And so that makes me absolutely f***ing enraged.”
read more on property
The property was only built the year before and looked stunning, both in the brochures and when he looked around, he said.
However, it quickly turned into a living nightmare when Dan and the other new owners noticed serious problems.
The floors in the flats started to rot – which caused a noticeable slant and unevenness in many of the rooms, Dan claims.
He also alleges that his terrace and the bathrooms began leaking, causing extensive damage to the external façade of the building.
Most read in Money
And the bathroom floor collapsed in on itself and can’t be used due to plumbing issues which has left the room covered in mould, he added.
Dan told MyLondon that he is frightened the building will fall over: “Every time the building moves, or every time there’s a loud sound, you’re awake, and you’re also going to check just to make sure everything’s okay.
“I have this nightmare that one of the corners [of the building] just falls away and I’ve got to go and get everyone, knock on every door to get everyone out.”
Dan added that he cannot use his kitchen for days or even weeks at a time because of electrical problems – due to the ceiling leaking when it rains heavily.
The building isn’t structurally safe according to Dan and Alexandra Druzhinin, another apartment owner – who also claims strong winds and lorries make the flats shake.
They claim that the windows have started to bend from the pressure being forced on them from both walls on either side.
Dan said he had checked everything about the property before moving in and even used a conveyance solicitor rather than the buildings.
“We had surveys, we made sure that we had structural warranties, we made sure that there was building insurance in place,” Dan claims.
The developers were painting over issues in the days or hours before viewing to hide the shoddy work, according to Dan.
However, the developer and owner of these flats – Prime Metro Properties – told The Sun: “This is completely untrue and Prime Metro had no idea of the existence of the issues that are being experienced today.
“If the issues were undetectable to surveyors employed by purchasers how could Prime Metro have been aware.”
Dan claims he is shocked a building in this condition was signed off by an Approved Inspector from Salus Building Control & Fire Safety Consultants Limited.
He said: “The approved inspector shouldn’t have signed the building off.
“They’re not allowed to recklessly sign off a building.
“This was objectively reckless,” he added.
Salus Building control told The Sun: “We vehemently deny that the property was defective at the point it was given building control approval.”
Acasta European Insurance Company Limited is responsible for paying out money for claims made by the apartment owners of the building.
Yet, Dan and other owners said they have not seen a single penny even though it has been five years since they put in their claims.
They said that their claims have been acknowledged but nobody has come to investigate the matter.
“Arguably this isn’t their fault, but they do have obligations to us under the Insurance Act to pay any sums due under a policy in a reasonable time frame.
“They’ve not done that,” explained Dan.
For the last five years the crumbling building has taken over Dan’s life, he claims.
Dan said: “Every single day, Alex and I fight, we spend our time fighting and we spend money on solicitors and we’re the victims here.”
The London Fire Brigade issued an enforcement notice about the building in 2021, which Dan claims still hasn’t been completed properly.
Fed up of the lack of action Dan and Alex turned to the government for help.
Michael Gove visited Agar Grove in October last year where he “assured” the residents that “his team were going to find creative solutions”.
“And yet, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have been involved for a year and there’s been no substantive change,” Dan explained.
The DLUHC told The Sun they held meetings with Prime Metro and Acasta after visiting Dan and the others at Agar Grove.
“The Secretary of State has been absolutely clear that those who should have helped leaseholders have all moved too slowly.
“We have had regular correspondence with residents, and we are considering what steps we will take going forward.
“Acasta must meet its warranty obligations swiftly so the leaseholders, who have suffered unjustly, can get on with their lives,” a DLUHC spokesperson said.
In total Dan reckons he is owed around £1.5million when you take into consideration the money he originally paid for the flat, plus his legal costs and compensation for the five-years of stress and horrible living conditions.
However, Dan thinks at this stage his money will have to come from the government.
“If the government generally believed that we built safe homes, then there’s no risk to them backstopping when things go wrong because it should be minimal,” he said.
“And the government are also the ones that have allowed lax regulations, they’ve enabled it essentially.”
Stuart Power, director for Salus Building Control, told The Sun: “We fully understand the considerable frustration felt by Agar Grove flat owners as they look to have existing defects repaired.
“After all this time, it is perplexing that the new-build warranty insurers, developers and sub-contractors have not worked together to identify the cause of the defects.
“We have publicly proposed this course of action on several occasions and offered to assist with this process where we can – but thus far to no avail.
“So once again we call upon the insurers, developers and sub-contractors to do the right thing as the occupiers must be provided with a fruitful pathway towards remedy without further delay.”
The Sun went to Acasta Europe Limited for comment but got no response.
What are your rights?
If you believe your developer has not shared relevant information with you or sold a property under false pretences, you can take them to court for property misrepresentation.
If successful, you can claim for the amount that your home has decreased in value, as determined by the court.
Other faults with homes, like issues with fixtures or fittings, or complaints that building work has not finished on time are usually covered by the developers’ code of conduct.
Issues can be resolved privately with the developer and insurers.
If they are not dealt with to your satisfaction, you can elevate the complaint to the independent Housing Ombudsman
5
5
