Several residents return to Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich despite prohibition notice

A number of residents have left temporary accommodation to return to a block of flats deemed unsafe despite a prohibition notice.

Grey GR, which manages Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich, said it had asked residents to 'understand the risk to their safety' and comply with the notice, but was aware that several had returned.

Temporary accommodation, mainly hotels, for those evacuated last Tuesday have been set up until March 13 – but the firm said it will be working with residents to find long-term housing.

Teams will work over the next few weeks to secure alternative flats for residents, it added.

Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove said residents at Cardinal Lofts had been let down.

He said: "The safety of residents must be the top priority. This is not the first time Grey GR and Railpen have badly let down people living in their buildings.

"They must fix them urgently, so that people can get back in their homes."

Alex Dickin, a leaseholder in Cardinal Lofts and founder of Ipswich Cladiators said he understood that 15 flats – roughly 20 per cent of the building – were occupied.

Mr Dickin said: "Many of these people either refused to leave, or came back from temporary accommodation as they were uncomfortable leaving their homes.

"The people evacuated in November have now been rehomed, as they were the only people for whom prohibition notice was enforced.

"Suffolk Fire has said it will not enforce the notice for the other floors, which had led to the situation where people can just pick up their suitcases and return and no one will stop them."

Cardinal Lofts resident Anthony Volz said he knew of at least four people who decided to remain in the flats.

He was fortunate that he had friends of family to help him out, but others may not have been so lucky.

"Anyone who lived here could tell you it was unsafe for occupation – for years – and I feel most of us have had enough," he added.

Shortly after the flats were evacuated in November, Mr Volz told SuffolkNews residents feared their houses could 'go up in smoke at any minute', and they were not being kept in the loop.

Originally, it was just the upper floors evacuated after fire risks were found.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service issued a statement over the claim that it would issue a prohibition notice should residents choose not to evacuate.

A spokesman for the service said: “It has been incorrectly reported that Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service intends to issue a further prohibition notice on all of Cardinal Lofts if residents refuse to evacuate.

"The decision to recommend evacuation on Tuesday, 21st February 2023, was taken solely by Grey GR based on technical advice received and was not an instruction from SFRS.

"We have contacted Grey GR to ask them to clarify the situation with residents and hope they do so shortly.”

Grey GR said one of the reasons for the fire risk is 'inadequate compartmentation' between flats, communal areas and exit routes, which was recently brought up in reports.

This put the Lofts at increased risk of fire and would play a role in containing and stopping the spread of a blaze, it noted.

Further issues were later brought up by a fire engineer, which facilitated a full evacuation, a spokesperson for the firm said.

The spokesperson added: "While Grey GR did not design or build these buildings, we are fully committed to remediating buildings that are in need of works and we want to do so as soon as possible.

"The redevelopment work carried out at Cardinal Lofts was to such a poor standard it is concerning it was ever approved by building control – the high-risk nature of the issues within this property are evidence of poor controls and lack of governance on developments/developers.

"This is something we have been clear on with government throughout our historic engagement with the Government and have been seeking a meeting with successive secretaries of state, including Michael Gove, since mid-2022 to resolve outstanding issues relating to the implementation of the Building Safety Fund, which would help us push forward with remediation."

Grey GR said it had 'no choice' but to evacuate the flats.

The spokesperson said: “We are aware that some residents have left the temporary accommodation that we had organised for them, to return to Cardinal Lofts.

"It is crucial that residents understand the risk to their safety, and we strongly encourage all residents to comply with the evacuation requirements.

“We understand this is a distressing time for residents, however the decision was made in the best interests and safety of residents and was not made lightly.

"This building is extremely complex, and the project plan involves a vast number of contractors and we are working with them ahead of beginning works, with the aim of being able to return residents to safer homes as soon as possible."