Merseyside leaseholders are furious after it was announced that many buildings will not be eligible for government funding to remove dangerous cladding.
This comes as the Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick, introduced a £3.5bn fund to fix dangerous cladding.
Leaseholders say this support does not go far enough as grants will not be given to those with buildings under 18 meters tall.
One group helping to support residents and leaseholders in Merseyside is Liverpool Cladiators.
Julie Fraser, who runs Liverpool Cladiators found the news gut wrenching.
Mrs Fraser said: “We’ve been waiting for the announcement for such a long time now because I’m personally affected as my building is under 18 meters.
“Essentially we’ll be looking at long term loans and it’s just not right.”
Mrs Fraser believes the lack of funding could have dire consequences for leaseholders across Merseyside.
Mrs Fraser said: “Potentially many people will go bankrupt because of this.
“The problem comes when if you pay for remediation but then you move on and want to sell your apartment, you’re selling it on with debt.
“Meaning you’d be selling that apartment on with debt which would potentially last through the life of the lease of the building.
“In addition to remediation costs… our buildings insurance has increased by over 1400% in two years.
“So now we’re paying over half a million just in buildings insurance”.
Merseyside tenants living in buildings under 18 meters may also be affected by these problems.
Mrs Fraser added: “There’s the possibility that landlords who rent their apartments may have to increase their rental.
“It’s easy to forget that these buildings are still really dangerous and highly flammable and people have to live in them.
“They’re living and breathing this day and night and because of Covid-19 people are not leaving their homes as much.
“So 24/7 they’re living in a building that’s wrapped in dangerous cladding.”
Liverpool Cladiators are asking the government to make the developers pay for changes to make these buildings safe.
Mrs Fraser said: “We’ve been asking the government to make the polluter pay as we say.
“So the developers who built these buildings which weren’t built to the standard and regulations at the time.”
