VIDEO: Leaseholder protests over the cladding scandal.

Lease holders who are unable to sell or mortgage their homes due to cladding and new government guidelines, protested outside of the Town Hall yesterday evening.

Wednesday 1 September saw the first full council meeting where councillors attended in person after the removal of lock down restrictions and saw protesters standing outside of the Romford building to make their voices heard.

Owners of high rise properties that have cladding, are angry that they cannot sell their flats or mortgage them unless the cladding is removed and to have the cladding removed, they face potential bills of up to £200,000.

The protesters were joined by Labour Councillors and activists who are supporting them in their bid for a change in guidelines.

Head of Havering Labour Councillor Keith Darvill submitted a motion at the meeting last night regarding the cladding scandal that is impacting high rise flats.

The motion states:

“This council is concerned at the ongoing adverse impact on leaseholders and tenants arising from the cladding scandal following the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017 and calls upon the government to lead an urgent national effort to fix the spiralling cladding and building safety crises.”

This issue is affecting millions of leaseholders across the country and has been described as a national scandal.