Bristol woman ''stuck in her home'' and unable to sell because of its cladding

Lucy Tissington, 34, bought her property in Bristol's Clayewater Court in 2017 - just months before the Grenfell disaster.

The scandal led to changes in building regulations around cladding.

She says because of the new rules it then became almost impossible for potential buyers to get a mortgage on flats there.

Lucy says lenders won't offer mortgages because it was deemed the block did not have an adequate standard of fire safety.

After the regulations were changed, Lucy's 11m tall building was deemed a fire risk - and is now rated B2 on an EWS1 form, which mortgage applicants were advised to get.

But in 2021, the Conservative government claimed that buildings under 18m were no longer considered high risk, and ESW1 forms are not advised.

However, many buildings - including Lucy's - completed the survey before the change in recommendations, and mortgage providers will still consider the forms.

Now Lucy, who hopes to start a family, feels trapped in her small two-bedroom flat.

She says the issue is not just the cladding but the entire external wall systems being substandard.

That includes not just the cladding but also the insulation and other components.

"I bought the flat in April 2017 and everything was fine - I was very excited to have my first home," Lucy said.

"It wasn’t until after the Grenfell disaster that we started to realise that if you wanted to sell any flat, mortgage providers were asking for an EWS1 form – an external wall survey.

"We went through a bit of time trying to get an external wall survey – I thought it would be easy, since the building was only built a couple of years before.

"We got the wall survey eventually in 2021. We’ve not been able to sell since that became the regulation.

"The situation that I’m in is because my building is below 11m. There are zero protections for us as leaseholders."

Lucy, who purchased her flat as part of a government Help to Buy scheme which was interest-free for five years.

Now, seven years after purchase, Lucy is unable to remortgage and has been left paying interest - and has reached out to multiple avenues for help, with no luck.

Lucy says that quotes given to her and other leaseholders to fix the cladding have reached the £500,000 mark - which residents would be unable and unwilling to pay.

"It was the government scheme where they’d provide 20% of the valuation towards the deposit to help you get onto the property ladder," said Lucy.

"It was an interest free loan for five years, and after five years, if you don’t pay it back, then you have to start paying interest on it.

"I can’t pay it back because you have to remortgage, so I’m essentially trapped in a loan that I can’t get out of.

"There are hundreds of different ways we’ve tried to approach it.

"We’re paying for building insurance – they say they’ve got nothing to do with it because it was built according to regulations at the time, and they don’t deem it an immediate fire risk.

"I’ve been in touch with our property management company who have been in contact with our freeholder, Homeground.

"I’ve spoken to my local MP about it as well, who has been supportive, but there’s only so much they can do.

"I’ve also spoken to the Government Department of Levelling up and Housing – they’ve looked at our situation and think it shouldn’t be the situation, but the surveyors say it should be, so they’ve left it.

"Every different avenue that we could possibly go to, we’ve tried, in order to fix this situation.

"They’ve just swept us under the carpet. For the developers to say that they built it according to the regulations at the time, so it’s got nothing to do with them, is hard to comprehend.

"Quotes have varied, but they have quoted us up to £500,000 between us – almost £30,000 each.

"That would mean everybody having to lump in and get it sorted, but it’s hundreds of thousands of pounds. It’s just something we can’t afford.

"We’re the ones that are paying for the surveys. It’s just so incredibly frustrating."

Lucy and her partner are desperate to move on - but feel trapped in their situation, and let down by the lack of support available.

"I feel like I should be able to move on if I want to. My partner and I want a space where we can potentially start a family.

"I am paying so much money to live in a place that I can’t leave if I want to.

"The fact that the government scheme encouraged me to get into this – they said this would be brilliant to get onto the property ladder – and now I’m stuck.

"They’ve not, at any point, tried to help me get out and I think it’s shocking. It’s stopping me from moving on the way I should be able to.

"Everything I’ve worked for, my deposit, my money, is in this flat and I don’t have access to it. It’s really hard to deal with.

"I don’t know where else to go or what else to do. I just want to move on – I want to get my money and go.

"The only support I've found has been from End Our Cladding Crisis - it’s a huge campaign up and down the country that’s trying to call on the government to address these situations, because it is a crisis, and at the moment, nobody’s taking responsibility for this.

"It’s not just me and it’s not just my building – there are people all up and down the UK that are in this situation.

"Homeowners that were encouraged to get involved and buy are now trapped – and nobody is taking responsibility."

Developer Clayewater Homes told the BBC that the flat met "all relevant building regulations in force at the time" it was built and sold.

A spokesperson added: "We have no legal or contractual responsibility for any further works.”

HomeGround, acting on behalf of the freeholder, Adriatic Land 5 Limited, told the BBC it sympathised with leaseholders and was "staying in close contact with the managing agent of the building to find a solution".