Elderly residents living in a block of flats left without cladding for two years could be compensated just £325 for extra heating costs. One resident of Gilton House, Brislington, said this would fall far short of covering the higher bills he’s had to pay during two freezing winters.
The cladding was removed from Gilton House two years ago, as Bristol City Council, which owns the flats, planned to replace it after fire safety concerns. Windows also had to be replaced on the building. But after several mistakes were made, the project has faced repeated delays.
People living in Gilton House have been left without insulation in their homes, meaning they have had to either fork out much higher heating costs, or suffer bitter cold with blankets and jumpers. Some even left their flats and stayed with friends or family.
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Now council bosses are planning to pay compensation to the affected residents, for the disruption and the hundreds of pounds in extra bills they have had to pay. Reports suggest that each resident could be given £25 a month for 13 months when the cladding was off.
During a housing policy committee, Labour Councillor Zoë Peat said: “How can we justify this miscarriage of justice when we’re only providing £25 per month of compensation for not being able to live in their homes? Why has this process not been transparent? How was this calculated and what evidence is there to justify this amount?
“Gilton House is not alone, there will be other buildings in Bristol like this. Who is responsible for deciding that £25 was justifiable as compensation per month for living in a home without insulation. Why didn’t this go through the homes and housing delivery policy committee?”
One housing boss said no decision has been made yet, and the figure could change. She promised to keep councillors on the committee updated on any decision.
Fiona Lester, interim director of the homes and landlord service, said: “There has been no final decision made yet. A paper giving a couple of recommendations is making its way through our decision pathway. One of things we’ve talked about in our approach is about being transparent.”
Speaking after the meeting, Nigel Varley, from the Gilton House Residents Association, called for residents to be updated on the discussions, rather than “keeping it secret”. He added that residents were being forced to pay for much higher heating bills, which many struggle to afford.
He said: “It is grossly unfair that they have withheld information from us on the level of compensation. They haven’t discussed whether what they’re going to offer meets our needs. It’s all been kept secret until a final decision is made.
“From the information that we’ve received unofficially about the level, it’s £25 a month for every month the cladding has been off. That won’t cover the additional costs of electricity bills we’ve had to pay because of the delayed project. And it’s still not finished.”
Mr Varley estimated that he has paid an extra £500 in heating bills since the works began. He also called on council bosses to include compensation for the disruption to him and his neighbours.
He said: “We want a level of compensation for the unnecessary disruption caused by the delays, with noise, dirt, and the loss of amenity of our flats, because they’ve been covered in scaffolding for two years. For weeks on end they were going around banging the scaffolding, it was terrible.
“It’s not our fault that the windows in Gilton House had to be replaced. It’s not our fault that the cladding proved to be flammable. It’s not our fault that the renovation of Gilton House has taken this long. None of this is our fault, and yet we’re being required to pay a substantial sum of money, which we can ill afford.”