'Our flats are still leaking after £1m works'
George Carden/BBCLeaseholders living in a block of flats in West Sussex which underwent a £1m restoration project to fix leaks and mould issues say they are disputing the charges.
Residents in Guildbourne Court, above the Guildbourne shopping centre in Worthing, said they believed the external works between October 2024 and July 2025 would "rectify decades of building deterioration" to the 1970s structure.
They claim the works did not fix leaking issues and said they complained in writing multiple times, but have now been told by lawyers acting for residential landlord Netsafe Limited that they owe more than £1m between them before the shopping centre site is put up for auction on Tuesday.
Harper Stone, which manages the residential part of the site on behalf of Netsafe, said residents' concerns had been "passed up the chain", adding they were "sympathetic to the plight of the leaseholders" but "cannot accept any responsibility in how this has happened nor any liability in the way matters have been handled".
Netsafe did not respond to multiple requests for comment when contacted through their solicitors.
Anna WilliamsA letter from Harper Stone to leaseholders in August 2024, before the works started, said they were to be paid for by Netsafe.
The letter, seen by the BBC, also said leaseholders, who said they paid a service charge of about £3,000 a year for building upkeep, would pay back the cost of the work over time through that service charge budget.
It added that leaseholders would not be chased for their share of the work but the balance would sit on the individual accounts.
But another letter on 24 June this year from solicitors said residents needed to arrange to pay back their share in full or set up an instalment plan by last Friday, four days before the site goes up for auction.
The cost varies from £28,000 to £36,000 for each of the 35 flats.
However, leaseholders have told the BBC they have collectively written to the solicitors to say they do not intend to pay back the £1m, which includes professional fees and VAT.
'I feel stuck with a property'
Anna Williams bought her flat four years ago and said she thought it would be a good first step on the property ladder.
Williams said the flat had issues with water ingress and still had the same problems after the works.
The 30-year-old said residents had been "handed this whopping bill for this awful work".
She added: "I feel frustrated, resentful, angry that the issues have gone on. It's paused a lot in my life."
The works included concrete repair and protection measure, brickwork repairs and repointing, repair of balcony waterproofing systems and repairs of the roof coverings.
Anna WilliamsKatie Courtney-Jones, who has lived on the top floor for the last two years, said: "[The building] is very dilapidated, there's a lot of work that needs to be done.
"I think the £1m works concentrated on the water ingress which has been happening for at least 20 years.
"How did it cost £1m… it hasn't even rectified the water ingress."
Angela Hersee, who said she bought her flat in 2001, said there had been leaking issues since she first moved in.
Hersee said she no longer lived there but had not been able to sell her property.
"Within a couple of months of the work finishing in July, the water came back again," said the 46-year-old.
"I actually don't know the way out, I feel stuck with a property."
George Carden/BBCThe site, which includes the shopping centre and six-storey office space, is being auctioned off with a guide price of £1.5m.
Any new buyer would take on the residential properties with the existing leases.
The building's ownership is split into different tiers, according to Companies House and HM Land Registry data.
While demands for the £1m external works come from Netsafe Limited, a company tied to the same family business as commercial leaseholder Factory Outlets Limited, the overarching leasehold title belongs to a separate company based in Jersey.
Under UK property frameworks, ownership of mixed-use blocks is routinely divided into separate commercial and residential leasing tiers.
Worthing Borough Council is the ultimate freeholder of the land but granted an overarching 150-year head lease in 1972. The authority does not deal with the day-to-day sales of the main leasehold.
A council spokesperson said: "We've received a complaint from a resident and our private sector housing team is investigating to determine if there is any action we should take.
"We understand that some of the flat owners are unhappy about the setting or collection of maintenance charges for their homes by their landlord.
"The owners should seek legal advice if they believe those charges are unfair."
The BBC approached Mark Mosselson, a director of Netsafe who is also connected to the building's commercial management, through his solicitors but did not receive a response.
