Work to remove 'fire risk' cladding from Bexhill apartment block 'nearing completion'

Scaffolding was erected outside the Landmark building in Egerton Road last September when work started.

Oakfield Estate Agents, which manages the building, said it secured £6.4m in funding to completely replace the cladding.

Sam Hensher, financial director at Oakfield, said: “Since commencement of the remediation project in May 2023 we have seen great progress and are now nearing completion of the work. Despite some short delays having suffered some adverse weather over the past month or so, the project is on course to be fully completed by the end of March 2024, with all scaffolding removed by the end of April 2024.

“On an even more positive note, the recent building insurance renewal saw the premium reduce by around 50% which has made a significant improvement for leaseholders this year. We are all looking forward to concluding the work, and no doubt residents will be looking forward to enjoying the summer with all of this firmly behind them.”

Last January, the Observer reported on how residents living in the complex said they faced crippling bills to pay for major repairs.

The Observer reported in early 2021 how residents in the building, which contains 66 flats, said they were ‘living in fear’ after surveyors recommended major repairs to the complex following a safety report in November 2020.

Residents then saw their insurance costs rise, as well as bills for new safety measures increase. Some said their flats were rendered worthless, leaving them unable to sell up.

Oakfield said the company was appointed managing agents for the Landmark after the developers went into administration in 2012.

A waking watch and new fire alarm system were put in place. The former is a fire safety system in which trained staff patrol the floors and the outside of a building continually to provide warning in the event of a fire.

Oakfield added it was able to secure funding for the installation of the new fire alarm system via the Government’s Waking Watch Relief Scheme. However, it added leaseholders had to pay for the waking watch patrols themselves.

Further funding to replace the cladding was approved from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) via the Government’s Building Safety Fund.