Leaseholders' lives on hold years after legal order

Leaseholders are still stuck in a block of flats three years after securing a legal order intended to force their landlord to fix fire safety issues.

A survey in 2023 found that Orchard House, a five-storey block in Brislington, Bristol, didn't meet fire safety standards, which also means leaseholders cannot sell their flats and face extra costs.

Later that year, residents secured a remediation order - a new legal route introduced after Grenfell to force buildings owners to act - but the building is yet to be remediated.

Freeholder Stockwood Land 2 Ltd said it "fully recognises the significant impact on leaseholders" and would start the remediation works once approved by Homes England.

Steph Culpin, who lives in Orchard House, has been leading the campaign to get her building made fire safe.

The legal deadline for remediation works passed in June 2024, but after Bristol City Council said it could not help enforce the remediation order, leaseholders realised they would have to spend thousands doing it themselves.

Culpin said the ordeals were "grim" and "mentally draining", and compares it with having a second job.

It wasn't until late 2025 that the freeholder applied for funding from the government's Cladding Safety Scheme, which was awarded in November. Now, the remediation works could start this autumn, but the timeline is yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, not only are residents worried about the safety of the building, but they are also unable to sell or remortgage their flats, and are having to shoulder inflated insurance costs or extra interest on Help to Buy loans.

Hannah moved into Orchard House with her partner in 2018 when it was first converted into flats.

But the issues with the building stopped her from moving to a bigger place five years later, so she moved in with her parents and became an "unintentional landlord".

A year later, she split with her husband. "It was definitely a factor, with our lives on hold - we couldn't move on, couldn't think about starting a family, and living with [my] parents didn't help."

As well as paying interest on her Help to Buy loan and increased mortgage payments, she and her husband have had to fork out nearly £1,000 for a financial consent order as part of the divorce.

Multiple leaseholders have told the BBC how the lack of action by the freeholder has forced them to put their lives on hold.

One leaseholder said: "It was made out to us like [the remediation works] weren't going to take that long, but here we are several years later still no closer to any remediation work being done.

"It's just frustrating because we feel stuck and trapped and can't move on with our lives."

Another Orchard House resident said: "My family and I have been unable to move, we have a baby so living here is really not suited to us. We are desperate for them to have their own room and a garden.

"The mental toll this has taken on me, I try not to think too deeply about, because it's been quite frankly - awful."

Danielle moved into Orchard House in 2018, and was about to sell her flat in 2023 when a survey uncovered fire safety issues.

"It was very stressful," she said. "As soon as the survey came out, the buyer didn't want it anymore."

After being ignored by the freeholder about the fire safety defects, she helped get the remediation order, which became "almost another full-time job".

"We had to speak to the MP, fire and rescue and the council - you're constantly chasing all these people and getting nowhere – it feels so disappointing."

She had to take out a personal loan and borrow money from family to pay off her Help to Buy loan. Now she is considering renting out her flat because she is losing hope of a result any time soon.

"If I decided I did want to have a child, they could be [aged] seven by the time we moved," she said.

"It feels like we're stuck in the same position. No-one is talking to us, we're completely in the dark all the time."

The lack of communication from the freeholder is a common complaint from leaseholders.

Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, said: "Not only was the work not being carried out, leaseholders were being left in the dark as to what was happening, which was completely unacceptable.

"There was little to no communication from the freeholder," she said, until she contacted them and was assured that in future they would keep leaseholders up to date.

On 31 March, an update from the freeholder was shared with an apology for the lack of communication and commitment to regular updates moving forward.

The freeholder said the potential start date for the remediation works was in October 2026, with the next step being an independent fire engineer's report to assess whether the planned works would meet fire safety requirements.

While leaseholders continue waiting for progress on the remediation works, they have been outraged further by the freeholder submitting planning applications to extend Orchard House and build another block of flats next to it.

A similar application was thrown out a year ago after Bristol City Council accused the developer of "gaming the system".

"To put [the applications] in again as soon as they get the grant approved, but still not actually do anything on our building, to me it was just madness," said Culpin.

A spokesperson for Stockwood Land 2 Ltd said: "The recent planning application is entirely separate from the remediation works.

"We are currently in discussions with Bristol City Council and a registered provider with the intention that the scheme will deliver 100% affordable housing."

Remediation orders were introduced in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell fire in London, in which 72 people died, to give leaseholders a new legal route to force their landlords to fix issues with their buildings.

But Culpin said the remediation order for Orchard House, despite all the work involved, "wasn't worth the paper it was written on".

McCarthy said the government's Remediation Action Plan includes a legal duty to compel freeholders to remediate their buildings within a fixed timescale or face criminal prosecution.

"I'll be urging the government to implement this as soon as possible, so that in future freeholders can't get away with ignoring remediation orders."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We recognise the understandable concerns of residents at Orchard House."

They said they have been in regular contact with residents, the local authority and Avon Fire and Rescue Service, and have met a representative from the freeholder "to push them to fix the building more quickly".

"Through our Remediation Acceleration Plan we will take tougher action to make sure that those who are subject to remediation orders are held to account and meet the deadlines which have been set for them."

A spokesperson for Stockwood Land 2 said it "takes the situation at Orchard House extremely seriously and fully recognises the significant impact this has had on leaseholders".

"Over the past two years, we have spent considerable time and our own funds commissioning specialist investigations, fire safety reports, and professional input to progress the building toward eligibility under the Cladding Safety Scheme."

They acknowledged that updates hadn't "always been communicated as consistently or as promptly as they should have been", and promised to improve communication going forward.

They said they are ready to move forward with the remediation works as soon as they are approved by Homes England.

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