Apartment owners facing near £1 million bill to repair culvert

HOMEOWNERS in Millbrook are likely to be landed with a near £1 million bill to repair a badly damaged culvert.

As leaseholders, owners of the 95 properties at Cedar House, Acorn House and Thistle House are liable to foot the cost.

Though no exact figure has been finalised for the work, it has been estimated the owner of each apartment may have to stump up £8,000 or possibly more.

It is a nightmare scenario and reminiscent of the issues with tower blocks with dangerous cladding and which apartment owners, also leaseholders, are liable to fund the work along with the doctors’ surgery which the culvert runs beneath with part of the car park cordoned off on safety grounds.

Danielle Woodward set up a WhatsApp group to co-ordinate the efforts of residents to oppose being hit with this bill which she claimed many could not afford to pay.

And with homeowners, including herself, finding it impossible to sell apartments because of the issues, teacher Danielle added they are effectively trapped.

Danielle said: “This has been going on since 2016 and we still not been given a price, just estimates.

“We are hoping to get a price in January, and we have been told it could be nearly £1m.”

Danielle, who purchased her apartment through the first-time buyer scheme in 2010, has been forced to rent it out, even before the latest issues.

She explained: “When I bought the apartment the service charge was £63 a month, today it is £180.

“Along with my 25-year mortgage and other bills, I cannot afford to live there and have moved back in with my parents in Mossley so I can rent it out.”

Residents have held meetings with the property management company to discuss the issue and MP Jonathan Reynolds attended one while Councillor Liam Billington has also offered support.

Danielle and nine other residents joined together to seek legal advice. She added maintenance of the culvert was included in the lease, even though it does not run close to the three apartment blocks.

“The 10 of us spent £3,000 and legal action would have been costly. It reached the stage we couldn’t afford to carry on spending money at then rate we were,” she added.

“We were told we had little chance of winning if it went to court. The solicitor said it ought to have been mentioned to people when buying apartments that the culvert was old.

“We have also spoken to Tameside Council and United Utilities and their response was that as freeholders we were liable.”

Danielle added there have been residents who have bought apartments since 2016 unaware of the issues with the culvert.

“Basically the apartments are unsellable and we are trapped. There are others who cannot afford to live there because they are mortgages and steep increase in service charges,” she said.

There have been issues with the culvert with property previously flooded nearby on Huddersfield Road in 2016 with a huge amount subsequently spent on improvements further upstream.

Danielle said: “Lots of big items washed away down the culvert during the floods so that will not have helped.

“The roof of the culvert is falling down. You can see the steel bars collapsing.”

Resident Charlie Taylor, 61, described the situation as a “nightmare”.

He said: “Many are retired people and £8,000 is a lot of money, whatever your circumstances.

“This issue about leaseholders being responsible for the work is akin to then one about cladding at Grenfell Tower and other blocks of flats including ones in Manchester.”

The land is owned by E&M Properties who receive £100 ground rent annually for each property.

Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, attended one of the residents’ meetings.He said: “This is a huge problem. The culvert runs underneath the footprint of a number of properties, including Bramble Court, and the repairs look like they will be very expensive.

“I feel it is grossly unfair that when people undertake searches on a flat they’re looking to buy, the survey will likely only focus on the flat and the building it forms part of. In this case very few residents understood the land Bramble Court was built on carried this liability.

“I’ve contacted the Government and have just had a reply. It is not hugely helpful, but I am about to share it with residents. They recommend the Leasehold Advisory Service as being the best placed people to assist.”

The Correspondent emailed Warwick Estates, who maintain the property on behalf of E&M Properties, but they had not replied by the time the paper went to print.