FURIOUS residents are taking the owner of their building to court after they were served a £14,000 bill for repairs and given just days to pay.

Flat owners at Portland House in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, have started legal action against the freeholder of their building after they received a letter on September 5 demanding £13,794 each for new fire safety works.

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In the letter, owners were told they would face legal action if they failed to pay the staggering amount within a month.

Currently, flats on the top floor of the converted office block do not have a safe fire escape.

Now, building managers Azure Property Management have told leaseholders of the 22 residential flats and 10 commercial units they need to pay a share of £441,000 within 30 days to build one.

None of the leaseholders dispute that the work needs to be done to make the building safer – but they believe they have not been given enough time to gather the funds.

Some fear they could lose their homes and jobs in the near future, although this is a claim Azure denies.

Georgie Sayers, 44, who bought the flat seven years ago said: “It just feels so wrong that a person can work really hard to get themselves into a position to buy a flat.

“It’s a one bedroom flat on Sheerness High Street, it’s not exactly a palace, however, it’s mine.

“In this day and age to be able to get a mortgage as a single person, on my own, was something I was really proud of.

“And no it just feels like that could all be taken away from me just like that, through no fault of my own.

“I could lose everything, not just my home but my job as well.”

The prison officer has attempted to work with building owners Azure Property Management to find a payment plan, but all of them have been turned down.

She said: “It was on September 5 we received a letter saying that we were going to be incurring the costs for the fire safety repairs, and that was the first time that we were told the amount and the fact that the costs would come to us.

“I’m not a legal person, so I can’t speak to the legality of it, but that’s kind of what the first tier tribunal is going to be looking into – whether or not they have followed the process that they should have followed.”

She added: “I cannot physically get that money from anywhere.

“It’s put me in a position where I can’t sell my flat, because obviously I’m going to be either selling it with the debt over it.

“And that’s if anybody would be able to get a mortgage on it – what are the chances of finding someone who wants to buy it outright?

“I’ve approached my bank to see if I can get a loan to cover the £14,000 which I was rejected for, which is a point against my credit history.

“I went to my mortgage company, I approached them to see if I could extend my mortgage, but they won’t even look at an application without an EW1S form – that Azure needs to provide but haven’t.”

Now, they have entered into a court process called a First-Tier Tribunal (FTT), which has bought leaseholders 20 weeks of breathing room from the huge bill.

Heidi Martin-Barshell, a local business owner and leaseholder of one of the flats in Portland House, said: “The complaint has been accepted by the FTT and as such that limits me to what I am allowed to say because I don’t want it to interfere with any investigations that the FTT may make.

“I will confirm that no one is disputing that works need doing to bring this building up-to-date.

“However, we are questioning the consultation and why we weren’t given sufficient information that we may be liable for costs and the limited time to pay such an astronomical amount of money.

“A 30 day demand and threats of court is unjustified when cost-of-living is the way it is at the moment.

“Azure property management aren’t working to assist any of the leaseholders in anyway and are putting a lot of pressure on the current leaseholders with passive aggressive correspondence threatening court action if the invoice wasn’t paid.

“We believe things weren’t done as they should have been which is why we decided to go round the route that we did.”

STANDING STRONG

The leaseholders have now banded together, with a WhatsApp group representing at least 14 of the owners providing emotional support during an incredibly stressful time.

Georgie said: “So it’s been really nice in some ways just to get to know the people living in the building.

“That’s the one good thing that’s come out of this.”

Ramunus Bulodas, 49, bought his flat nearly three years ago – he is terrified of the amount of money requested and fears what will happen if he does not pay.

He said: “I don’t know why we must pay this bill. Because they are the owners of this building, this company.

“Yet we pay everything – a service charge for them. Then we are asked to pay £14,000 again – it’s not fair.

“No one explained when we bought the flat we had to pay for the fire steps – we don’t know what to do.”

A spokesman for Azure told The Sun: “There has been a lengthy consultation process with leaseholders in relation to these works in which they were made aware of the potential costs in May this year.

“From the outset, we have not pursued any kind of action which would see people lose their homes.

“It goes without saying that nobody wants this to happen and rather than pursue legal proceedings we have reassured leaseholders of our commitment to offering the most flexible payment timeframe possible for those facing significant financial difficulties.

“Following this, we understand that a leaseholder may have referred the matter to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). We would welcome a review by the FTT to confirm the works are necessary, and it is encouraging to hear that leaseholders now acknowledge this.

“We understand this is a difficult situation for everyone involved; it is not a course of action we have chosen, but a burden that has been placed on thousands of leaseholders across the UK due to necessary changes in building safety regulations.

“As a result, we have a legal requirement as well as a duty of care to carry out these fire safety works which independent specialists have told us we must do.

 “We also want to emphasise that none of the money requested is going to us or the freeholder. Every pound is being used to cover the costs of independent contractors and advisors who are not affiliated with the freeholder or managing agent.

“We remain dedicated to minimising the financial impact on leaseholders, making the building safe for all residents, and ensuring transparency throughout, including at any potential FTT review.”

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