Camden Council could prosecute firm over faulty flats

The Ham&High reported last week that homeowners at 53 Agar Grove were left “drained”, “distraught” and “suicidal” after their new-build apartments began falling apart.

An expert surveyor has deemed the building potentially unstable and said consideration should be given to demolition.

Leaseholders say they have spent £300,000 on legal fees over their “uninsurable, unmortgageable” homes and live in “constant fear” of total financial ruin.

Camden Council says it is "urgently exploring" enforcement options after the Government asked it to consider legal action.

One leaseholder said he welcomed the suggestion, but it would do nothing to alleviate he and his neighbours’ financial woes.

Problems at 53 Agar Grove include cracks in internal and external walls, and ceilings being damaged by water ingress (Image: Charles Thomson)

Building Control

Since Margaret Thatcher privatised building control in 1985, homes no longer have to be signed off by local authorities.

Instead, developers can choose a private firms to do it.

Prime Metro Properties, the developer of 53 Agar Grove, chose Salus Approved Inspectors.

Salus, whose head office is in Maple Drive, Hinckley, Leicestershire, operates nationally, employs more than 70 people and boasts a diamond certificate for customer satisfaction.

According to Companies House, its six directors shared a total of £620,636 in 2022, in pay and dividends.

But within months of the first leaseholder moving into 53 Agar Grove in 2019, the roof began leaking into the communal stairwell and terraces started letting in water, causing water damage to flats.

Interior and exterior walls have since started to crack. Some windows and doors no longer open and close properly.

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• 'Our new-build flats are crumbling after just three years. We could lose everything'

In 2020, a surveyor found evidence of movement in the building.

A different surveyor, in 2022, questioned the suitability of the foundations and said the block was potentially unstable.

The flats, sold for between £700,000 and £900,000, are now valued at £0.

Adam Helal said he had spent roughly £100,000 on legal fees over the ongoing problems with his apartment (Image: Charles Thomson)

The Government

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) last week called the owners’ situation “deplorable” and said it was “applying pressure to those involved to reach a just solution”.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State at DLUHC, has offered the leaseholders a meeting.

His department has now released a letter to the Ham&High, sent to Camden Council leader Georgia Gould on May 3 by Mr Gove’s under-secretary Lee Rowley.

"Departmental officials have asked your building control team to consider whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Salus under section 57 of the Building Act 1984, for knowingly or recklessly signing off the building,” wrote Mr Rowley."

A conviction under Section 57 carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

What the council said

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “Following changes made by central government, private building inspectors can sign off on new developments without approval from local authority building control. This unfortunately creates situations like this as we have no powers over the decisions made by private inspectors.

“We want to do all we can to support the leaseholders at 53 Agar Grove and we are urgently exploring what enforcement options are available to us.”

Alexandra Druzhinin told the Ham&High she lived in constant fear of losing everything, since her home was deemed uninsurable (Image: Charles Thomson)

Salus

Salus said it had not seen the surveyor reports, “despite requests from various parties that we are sent a copy to allow us to investigate.”

“Whilst we have heard second-hand that there are some issues, we are not privy to the specifics of the issues to allow us to comment fairly,” said director Stuart Power.

“However, we have been and are willing to review the reports, visit site, engage with the owners or their representatives and investigate and make comment accordingly, once we had the relevant information to allow meaningful discussion and comment.”

Daniel Bruce said prosecuting the building control firm would not get he and his neighbours any closer to being refunded for their faulty homes (Image: Charles Thomson)

‘All we did was buy homes’

“I’m grateful for how far they are looking into it,” buyer Daniel Bruce said of the authorities.

“But even if [Salus] are proven to have acted recklessly, there’s no accountability to us.

“That’s a real problem. Everywhere we’ve turned, there’s been nothing available to make us whole.

“The law makes it our responsibility to try to make things whole, at great financial and emotional cost to ourselves – and all we did was buy homes.

“In my opinion, DHLUC should extricate us from the situation and then make it the developer and warranty provider’s problem, rather than our problem, as it has been for the last four years.

“In the long-term, they need to enforce a law that forces those responsible to make buyers whole.”