Flat safety ordeal left Newmarket resident feeling vulnerable, powerless and afraid

One of the victims of a rogue developer who sold unsafe flats in a Newmarket complex said she could finally see light at the end of a four-year-old ordeal that had left her feeling powerless, vulnerable and afraid.

Stefanie Seaton was in court last week to see Wayne Murfet jailed for three and a half years for supplying 36 fake building control completion certificates for The Grosvenor flats.

She had bought her flat in 2019, her first home, using a help to buy scheme having used her savings from five years teaching in Thailand and South Korea for the deposit. “I was proud of myself for buying my first home it looked like a finished flat and there were no red flags,” she said.

It was only the following years she found out the flat had been sold to her based on fraudulent documents and from that moment until now she said it became a relentless source of stress fear and anxiety particularly after West Suffolk council informed all the leaseholders that the building posed a serious threat to life because of an issue with its fire resistant compartmentation which in the case of fire should stop it spreading.

Stefanie said the council initially informed her if Murfet did not carry out the necessary remedial work then the leaseholders could be subject to enforcement action.

“Imagine receiving a letter that says your home is a serious threat to your life and that you’re not just potentially liable for the costs of making your flat safe but the entire building and you have no other choice but to live there and continue paying your mortgage,” she said.

Stefanie said her nightmare continued in February last year when firefighters dealing with fire alarms which would not turn off discovered gas was escaping into the hallways.

A gas engineer condemned the supply and placed a prohibition order on the building.

“It seemed Murfet had gone for the cheapest option rather than something fit for purpose,” she said and it meant she had to endure several weeks in winter without heating or hot water while remedial work was carried out. “

“I was afraid of being forced to evict my home but equally afraid of having to stay there and worried I would be made bankrupt in my 20s,” said Stefanie.

“It took a huge toll on my mental health and I felt a real sense of shame that somehow I was responsible because I had bought the flat.”

Murfet sold the building in 2021 and, working with the council, the new owner agreed to do the necessary remedial work.

Stefanie’s flat is now finished and she is proud of the stand she and a group of the other leaseholders took to make it happen.

“We can see light at the end of what has been a very long, dark tunnel, and by the end of this we will be living in the safest building in Newmarket,” she said.

“Ultimately if we want to sell our flats we can in good conscience that they are safe.”