Work to remove 'fire risk' cladding from Bexhill apartment block almost complete - this is when it will end

Scaffolding has surrounded the Landmark building in Egerton Road for a years since it was erected in September 2023 when work started.

The scaffolding is starting to be removed slowly and Oakfield Estate Agents, which manages the complex, has announced a date when the work will finally be completed.

Oakfield said it secured £6.4m in funding to completely replace the cladding before work started in September last year.

Earlier this year, Sam Hensher, financial director at Oakfield, said the project was set to be fully completed by the end of March 2024, with the scaffolding removed by the end of April, despite adverse weather causing some short delays earlier in the year.

The project overran, with 80 per cent of the work completed by May.

This week, Oakfield said the work will be completed before the end of this month.

Sam said: “We are pleased to report that the cladding remediation work at the Landmark is now coming to a close, with completion set for September 27.

“This is welcome news to everyone, mostly of course to the flat owners and residents who have been so patient and accommodating throughout this whole process and will enjoy much needed respite.”

The Observer first reported in early 2021 how residents in the building, which contains 66 flats, said they were ‘living in fear’ after surveyors recommended major repairs to the complex following a safety report in November 2020.

Flat owners then saw their insurance costs rise, as well as bills for new safety measures increase. Some residents said their flats were rendered worthless, leaving them unable to sell up.

Oakfield said the company was appointed managing agents for the Landmark after the developers went into administration in 2012.

A waking watch and new fire alarm system were put in place. The former is a fire safety system in which trained staff patrol the floors and the outside of a building continually to provide warning in the event of a fire.

Oakfield added it was able to secure funding for the installation of the new fire alarm system via the Government’s Waking Watch Relief Scheme. However, it added leaseholders had to pay for the waking watch patrols themselves.

Further funding to replace the cladding was approved from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) via the Government’s Building Safety Fund.