Bournemouth residents hit out at cladding chaos at flats

Berry Court, in St Peter’s Road in Bournemouth, was deemed a flagship property filled with “high quality” homes at its grand opening in 2018.

However, six years later residents have dubbed the site “Fawlty Towers” after being faced with hoards of issues.

Following the tragic Grenfell Tower Fire, Abri housing association assessed all its properties’ cladding to fit latest building regulations.

In 2022, work began to replace the cladding at Berry Court but further issues were revealed in the brick work.

For two years, the nine-floor apartment complex was covered in scaffolding while the completion date continued to be pushed back.

One resident, who does not wish to be named, moved into the building in May 2022, one month before “chaos” began.

She said customers were “hoodwinked” into moving in and were not informed of the loss of amenities.

“They sold us a lifestyle for young, working professionals next to the sea.”

However, the resident was shocked to lose outdoor communal areas, drop off parking and told they could not use their own balcony.

A temporary bin storage was installed while building works took place, however the overflowing rubbish attracted a mischief of rats.

Abri said after reports of rats pest control visited the site weekly and the problem has since been cleared. 

A faulty system also reportedly shut off the buildings hot water each time the fire alarm was raised.

Residents said an extended issue over the Christmas period forced one person to stay in hotel while another had to boil a kettle to bathe their child.

They added broken water meters have meant the housing association has no way of knowing how much water each resident is using.

Another resident, who has lived at the site since 2019, said she was “so excited” to move into the property, which was “really nice” at the time.

However, years of scaffolding, which has now been removed, caused trespassers to climb the site.

“We had 90 residents, which is half the building, co-sign a letter to our voice frustration.

“We cannot change the past, but it is moving forward.”

Mark Sayer, director of safety and resilience at Abri, said: “At Abri, we believe everyone should have access to a safe, warm and quality home.

“We’re sorry that residents at Berry Court have been impacted by the essential building and fire safety works, but the safety of our customers is our priority.

“The fire safety performance of the building has been greatly improved by the work that we’re doing.

“Once the recladding and brick replacement have been completed in June 2024, Berry Court will be fully compliant with the legislative requirements.

“When safe to do so, we look forward to returning communal areas and outdoor space to their full use.

“We recognise the inconvenience the exceptional nature of these works has had on those living at Berry Court and have offered a goodwill payment to our customers.”