Ipswich: Cardinal Lofts residents on evacuation process

On Tuesday afternoon, all the residents of Cardinal Lofts in Foundary Lane were instructed by the freeholder Grey GR to leave their flats, as the building was deemed “no longer safe for occupation”.

It comes three months after a prohibition notice was served to residents of floors seven to nine of Cardinal Lofts due to fire risk.

Viv Sharma, a resident who refused to leave his apartment in November, said it was “chaos” on Tuesday night and the following morning “while they put people into budget hotels”.

Viv Sharma with his 5-year-old son Nico, Supplied (Image: Supplied)

The 56-year-old father-of-four said he has lived in the building for 14 years and there is a six-man, round-the-clock waking-watch system and an alarm system.

He said: “It probably is unsafe but it’s not unsafer (sic) than it has been for the last 14 years.

“I accept that they want to do the work and we are willing to move but we’re not going to be treated the way they treat others.”

Mr Sharma added: “The stress is just unbelievable.”

In December, the partial evacuation of the Cardinal Lofts was extended until 2024.

Another leaseholder and a member of the Ipswich Cladiators group, Claire Hamblion, who moved into the block nine years ago, said that she was in “huge shock” when she was asked to evacuate.

Claire Hamblion, Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

“I was literally shaking, felt sick, didn’t really know what to do.

“It was fairly chaotic scenes of people very upset, very confused."

Ms Hamblion refused to leave, saying she has seen “no clear timescales” of what work will happen or how long she would be out of her home.

“Until I’ve got some clear assurances of what’s going to happen next, I’m not prepared to leave,” she said.

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove said it is "not the first time" Grey GR and Railpen had let people down badly, adding he had "instructed action this day" from the office's lawyers.