“I opened the door and my neighbour was on the phone with the fire brigade, telling me there was a fire.”
Those living there at the time only learned that it had building safety defects after the blaze tore rapidly through it – despite occurring two years after the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster which killed 72 people.
Firefighters arrived to tackle the fire just nine minutes after the first 999 call, but the flames spread so fast it was impossible to contain. Investigations revealed that defective cavity barriers had allowed the fire to spread rapidly through the inside of the timber-framed building.
In December, Labour vowed to ensure that every building above 11 metres with unsafe cladding will either be remediated or have a date for the completion of the repairs by 2029.
Richmond House after the blaze on September 9, 2019 (Photo: Jennifer Frame)“The building hadn’t been identified as a high-risk because it was low-rise and had cladding which wasn’t deemed problematic,” said Jennifer Frame, who lived at the block at the time of the fire.
Ms Frame said the blaze “has demonstrated that even a building of that height could have very rapid fire spread and be a risk to life and to your property”.
Richmond House in south-west London during the blaze in 2019 (Photo: Angela Gadaleta)
Ms De Masi was among residents who moved back into the rebuilt Richmond House, but said she struggled to deal with the trauma she had experienced.
Days after she moved back in on 15 March, the new block, rebuilt by Boom Construction, was evacuated again.
Jennifer Frame, former Richmond House resident (Photo: supplied)
The reason behind the alarms has not been identified, sparking concerns that the building’s fire safety system remains defective.
Ms De Masi said she has contacted MTVH to raise her concerns, but claimed she was met with “dismissive” responses and a “complete lack of compassion”.
An MTVH spokesperson said they acknowledged that it has been an “incredibly difficult journey” for residents who experienced the fire and have since returned to a newly built home on the same site.
Ms De Masi evacuated Richmond House minutes before the blaze spread across the building (Photo: supplied)The spokesperson added: “We are investigating the cause of the false alarms and will share the findings with our residents as soon as they are available. We will be taking any actions required to address the cause as soon as they are known.
Ms Frame’s bedroom after the fire at Richmond House (Photo: supplied)
Although Labour has clamped down on dangerous cladding for buildings above 11 meteres, residents in smaller apartment blocks, like Richmond House, have said the proposals will force them to choose between living in unsafe homes or paying up to large fees for repair work, leaving them bankrupt.
Landlords are responsible for managing and addressing safety risks in their buildings, regardless of building height, they added.
“Compensation has been paid to residents and those that wished to do so have been able to sell their flats back to the owner, MTVH.”
The i Paper has contacted Boom Construction for comment.
Sadiq Khan’s plan to fix the housing crisis
Sir Sadiq Khan is set to redraw London’s green belt to encourage mass housebuilding on the outskirts of the capital in a “radical change” to build 88,000 homes a year.
Areas likely to be earmarked for development are green belt plots close to transport links, with Khan saying the idea of the green belt as “all beautiful countryside” is a “myth”.
Real estate advisory firm CBRE has previously highlighted areas such as Bromley, Havering, Hillingdon and Enfield on the outskirts of inner London as potential locations for thousands of new homes.
London has a new target of building a record 88,000 new homes a year, but the current plan, which expects all housing supply to come from brownfield sites, is delivering only around 40,000 a year.
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