'My £850,000 London flat is now worthless'

Living successful a recently built artifact of flats deemed not acceptable for intent by surveyors has been a "daily surviving nightmare," residents person said.

Leaseholders astatine 53 Agar Grove successful Camden assertion they person spent hundreds of thousands of pounds successful ineligible fees warring insurers and developers.

One resident, who bought his two-bedroom level successful 2019 for £850,000, said the acquisition had been "life-ruining".

A authorities spokesperson called the concern "deplorable".

When Daniel Bruce moved into the archetypal location he'd owned, helium hoped it would beryllium his sanctuary, a spot to physique the adjacent signifier of his life.

But the 38-year-old told the BBC the problems helium has experienced had "altered the implicit trajectory of my life".

He said determination were problems with the foundations, determination were cracks successful the walls, and the timber framework was rotting.

Daniel added that bath floors had collapsed, determination was h2o harm and that model frames and doors had distorted meaning they were stuck either unfastened oregon closed.

Demolition and rebuilding should beryllium considered, an autarkic survey said.

The 150-page report, prepared for the developer Prime Metro Properties past March, concluded the gathering was "not considered to beryllium acceptable for purpose".

It said: "We person superior concerns astir the grade of structurally significant, built in, inherent defects that adversely impact the stableness and integrity of the building.

"It is our sentiment that determination are nary viable structural remedial works that would reconstruct the stableness and integrity of the building."

Mr Bruce, who claims to person spent £100,000 successful ineligible fees, said: "My aboriginal has been stolen from me, my money's been stolen from me, my intelligence wellness has been stolen from me.

"It was going to beryllium my sanctuary and it's turned retired to beryllium the implicit other of that", Mr Bruce said.

"There aren't capable adjectives to picture what I've been enactment through."

Fellow leaseholder and neighbour Alexandra Druzhinin paid £900,000 for a three-bedroom level successful 2019.

After being the archetypal to determination in, the 49-year-old said she had been near "emotionally broken" by the ordeal which has near her "paralysed" and "crying a lot".

She said: "It's scary due to the fact that I don't cognize however agelong this gathering is going to stand.

"It's fundamentally wiped retired each my savings. I spot nary extremity to it.

"I americium incapable to enactment due to the fact that each my clip is occupied by dealing with the building. I anticipation this isn't the case, but I consciousness similar my beingness is ruined."

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it had written to the security institution Acasta European Insurance Company Ltd to marque it wide to them it considered their behaviour unacceptable.

A authorities spokesperson said: "The concern faced by the guiltless residents of Agar Grove is deplorable, and we are applying unit to those progressive to scope a conscionable resolution."

They added the curate for gathering information had besides written to Camden Council to connection enactment and spot if determination was capable grounds to instrumentality ineligible action.

Camden MP Sir Keir Starmer wrote to the authorities astir the lawsuit past December. In a follow-up letter, dated 11 May and seen by the BBC, the Labour person said: "Unfortunately, for my constituents, determination person been nary affirmative developments successful the intervening months.

"Whatever enactment your section has engaged in, it appears to person had nary tangible benefit."

Prime Metro Properties said it did not physique 53 Agar Grove and employed a third-party company, Cite Construction Ltd, nether a plan and physique declaration done "to a modular that was not fulfilled".

A spokesperson for the developer said: "Cite Construction has been advised of each the problems wrong the gathering arsenic they person materialised but person failed to prosecute successful immoderate way.

"Salus (Building Control & Fire Safety Consultants) Ltd, the authorities approved and delegated gathering power inspectors, signed disconnected Cites works and we relied connected their certificate that the operation by Cite was satisfactory earlier we adjacent marketed the spot and took implicit connected completion.  "This task was undertaken arsenic a semipermanent commercialized concern successful the utmost bully religion and consequently we retained 3 of the 7 flats and the freehold.

"We are intent connected getting a timescale and committedness from Acasta to get the indispensable structural works undertaken which volition past let america to code the remaining issues."

Cite Construction, which built the flats, told the BBC it was "happy to supply immoderate information" that could assistance the leaseholders resoluteness the matter.

Acasta European Insurance Company Ltd confirmed it was the insurer "for definite warranty and latent defect policies relating to 53 Agar Grove".

In a connection it said: "Acasta is afloat engaged with and is discussing concerns raised regarding the spot with each funny parties.

"We instrumentality these concerns precise earnestly and are committed to fulfilling immoderate obligations nether the applicable security policies."

A Camden Council spokesperson said it was doing each it could to enactment the leaseholders and was "urgently exploring what enforcement options are disposable to us."

Leicestershire-based Salus, the institution which signed disconnected the building, declined to comment.

Additional reporting by Guy Lynn