An urgent councillor Call for Action has been put forward in a bid to deal with continuing problems at Arlington House in Margate, including questions over building and fire safety and a lack of communication from the property’s management.
Earlier this year a notice of enforcement action was issued to Metropolitan Property Realizations Ltd (MPRL) – the company responsible for Arlington House in Margate- due to structural issues with the building’s concrete that first came to light a decade ago and fire alarm system improvements that were still awaiting completion after five years.
The Building Safety Regulator refused to issue a safety certificate for the 18-storey high-rise tower block and ordered MPRL – which is a subsidiary of umbrella company Freshwater – to undertake a full structural survey by 14 July and a full fire safety compartmentation survey by 14 August.
Compartmentation divides a building into smaller, fire-resistant compartments to prevent the spread of fire. This is achieved through fire-resistant walls, floors, and doors, isolating a fire and limiting its impact.
Thanet District Council also served a Hazard Awareness Notice.
But residents’ association A Better Arlington says there has been no communication over whether surveys have been completed and now ABA says the building manager also appears to no longer be in post.
In addition to this, flat lessees are worried about mounting costs for four fire marshals to patrol the building 24/7 at a fee of £48,000 a month. The Arlington House residents association has been asking if MPRL has applied for available government funding to pay for the fire watch but no answer has been received.
Tom Bradshaw, of A Better Arlington, said: “All we want is good clear communication from them and proper building management keeping us in the know. Engage in proper dialogue. This is not happening under Freshwater.
“We’ve been left in the dark since April with no proper communication or updates since then on anything important – we still don’t know if the building safety regulator deadlines have been met, whether or not the waking watch fund has been applied for to cover the fire safety costs, or even if we have any end date to all of this waking watch saga – it was only supposed to be a temporary measure and we are now 9 months in.
“Our emails to them generally get ignored, or if we do get a response, it skirts around the actual questions we are asking them.
“Residents get replies saying ‘we will respond shortly’ and then hear nothing! And now the property manager has left without explanation, we only found out via an auto reply email – it’s incredibly unprofessional.
“We can’t go for right to manage on a building of this type, we’ve looked at it in the past, so once again we are left in limbo until they decide to communicate. It’s not fair – there’s elderly, vulnerable residents as well as hard working families in here genuinely concerned they could lose their homes, they shouldn’t be having to feel like that because communication isn’t happening from Freshwater.
“We are a residents’ association here to work with them, not against them, we have stated this to them, and they have chosen to ignore it. But when they continue to hound us with unfair demands and then we encounter constant issues, we need help, which is why we want TDC to step in as the superior landlord and use their powers to make a change.”
Margate ward councillor Rob Yates is now asking Thanet council, which is the building freeholder, to hold an urgent meeting about the issues and attempt to get answers from Freshwater/MPRL.
He said: “We have four waking watch walking round the building, scaffolding surrounding the building, concrete dropping off the building, the building safety regulator demanding urgent surveys, and yet, with deadlines missed, and residents being promised an update, the Building Manager is suddenly no longer working for Freshwater. What is happening??
“As a ward councillor I, along with the Chair of the Residents Association. have made an urgent Call for Action plea for TDC to invite Freshwater to a future Overview and Scrutiny meeting in order that we can find out what is going on and give residents the urgent update they need.
“Right now, the building safety regulator is concerned, the Health and Safety executive is concerned, Kent Fire and Rescue is concerned, TDC is concerned, and yet, deadlines are missed and emails to Freshwater from residents ignored. Where is the outrage?
“Freshwater is a billion dollar company extracting service charges from our residents whilst sitting on their hands. (They appear to be) ignoring the regulator, ignoring the council, ignoring residents and potentially putting lives at risk.
“If Freshwater managed schools or hospitals the way they manage Arlington House, they would have been fired, and banned from managing any public buildings anywhere in the UK.”
HSE confirmation
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokesperson confirmed documents have now been received.
They said: “We have received documentation submitted by the building’s Principal Accountable Person (PAP) for the two notices issued. This comprised a structural and compartmentation reports, along with some additional information.
“We are currently in the process of reviewing this information along with our multi-disciplinary team to see if it meets compliance and we will look to work with the PAP to address any additional requirements needed to ensure the building’s ongoing safety.”
‘Intensive work’
In response to the article Thanet council deputy leader Helen Whitehead said: “I think it’s necessary to note that the formal Councillor Call For Action submission was Councillor Yates first contact with the Cabinet Member regarding the recent developments.
“For a Call for Action to be made, Councillors must show that all available avenues to address an issue have been explored; a very basic one being speaking to the Cabinet Member directly, rather than via press release.
“The Council has met with Arlington representatives previously, and has maintained contact and contact details, and I am very happy to discuss issues at any time; always have been.
“As there are ongoing issues being addressed by TDC with Freshwater, we are limited in terms of what we can say; but this is an area of intensive work, and has been for a long time.”
Freshwater and Thanet council have been contacted for a response.
Far better Margate buildings were demolished during the so-called “slum clearances” in the late ’30’s.
This is the whole point isn’t it ?
Buildings only become slums because rogue landlords neglect their maintenance whilst continuing to pocket rents and service charges.
Almost half a million pounds has been wasted this year on persons employed to wander aimlessly around the building 24/7. That money would have been far better spent on carrying out the much needed repairs and redecorations.
Thank you Kathy for a most interesting article. I have been wondering why there hadn’t been an updated in the last few months. I can see why now nothing appears to have progressed. Coincidentally, I was doing a short course today online regarding the Building Safety Act 2022, the regulator has powers, hopefully enforcement will follow.
Can we all take a minute to also read Cllr Whitehead cabinet member for housing comments to Kathy and the isle of Thanet on Facebook shocking behaviour for an elected official 😮 career politicians that is not working for the residents highly embarrassing behaviour..
Arlington house has been subject to numerous enforcement notices over the years , but very little change for the better has happened. So far the building regulator does not appear to have used their powers with Freshwater to any serious effect.
Freshwater has continued with impunity in dragging its heals over building safety and building maintenance improvements.
TDC under successive political administrations have failed the residents of Ah. senior Council officers are simply too afraid to take on freshwater .
The problem with Thanet District Council has always been with the Executive. It’s serial unwillingness to act against Freshwater/Daejan speaks volumes. Of cowardice, incompetence and, hints of corruption. There is a sectarian aspect to this business that dares not speak its name. Involving those who own the Daejan group, the late former Chair of the Housing Committee and a firm of surveyors that is used regularly by the electorate and, particularly during the Tesco/Arlington Arcade debacle.
If the Executive is really working for the Council Tax Payers, it would revoke the Freshwater tenancy and demolish the building.
Planning Committee, not Housing Committee.🙄
The lease holder should be ashamed of themselves, do these residents have to wait for a repeat of Grenfell or what is currently going on in Hong Kong.
Some years ago when Tesco wanted to open a store in the boarded up shops at the foot of the flats and freshwater said they would refurbish at the same time ,the residents said no way to Tesco, so the whole lot fell through, maybe the residents should have let the store open then a lot of the issues could have been put right
Anti-Tesco campaigners claimed it would ruin Margate High Street, a place where pretty much all the shops have gone anyway!
The Tesco store was to be a 24 hour superstore on the site of the existing car park – not housed in the existing shop units.
The current car park was due to be demolished resulting in the loss of public and residents car parking. Car parking was to be for Tesco customers only. No parking for Dreamland. No parking for the beach.
The slum clearances of the interwar years and before were not so called but actual, but often what they did was help the better part of the working class, but day labourers and what we now called precarious job holders found themselves crammed into the remaining slum areas, which were called Rookerys in London.
I really don’t think it is helpful to bandy around terms like corrupt, when the evidence is lacking.It’s reasonable to suggest that TDC are in a management silo of their own making, and that they have a shortfall on competence, drive and responsiveness, but that is as far as it goes.
The current CEO was brought in after the Homer era, of which little positive can be said, but he is knocking on a bit, and some of those who were there in the Homer era are still there, hence roll on reorganisation, where there can be a refreshment by cleaning out the Augean stable at TDC.
I used the term ‘so-called’, as these were by all accounts lovely old cottages that were far from slums.
https://thanetcoastlife.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-turner-centre-site-how-it-was-in.html
Plenty of places around Thanet ready for demolition. Eaton Road to start with
Fred,
Eaton Road is perfectly fine. I don’t see a problem with it.
Where would you place all those residents that live there? It’s the same question for those who say Arlington should be demolished, where are you going to house all of the people that live within the block? Yes, there are major concerns rightly pointed out, but it’s down to the management side of things not willing to address them or fix them.