Dudley residents are being asked to pay £6,000 each for repairs to faulty retaining wall, MP tells Commons
More than 100 residents of a Black Country housing development are being hit with a bill of £6,000 each to repair a faulty retaining wall - just eight years after it was rebuilt before.
Dudley MP Sonia Kumar raised the plight of residents on Goodrich Mews in Upper Gornal in the House of Commons, after they were informed they faced a bill of £6,000 each to make the wall safe.
The former business park off Jews Lane was redeveloped for housing in 2013, but within four years problems began to emerge with a retaining wall at the site.
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Repairs were carried out, but faults have re-emerged, leaving the estate's 110 residents to foot the bill.
Miss Kumar said the management agent responsible for the site had admitted that the wall had been badly constructed.
During a session on business questions, Miss Kumar called for a debate on the accountability of property management agents and the need to protect leaseholders.
"Residents of the new Goodrich Mews estate in Gornal, which was completed in 2013, have been dealing with a collapsed retaining wall for years now," she said.
"The management agency originally confessed that it was poorly constructed, and it was repaired. It should have had a 60-year lifespan after that, but it has once again collapsed, and the management agency is demanding £6,000 from local residents to repair the wall. This is simply disgraceful and completely unjust."
Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell replied: “She is absolutely right. For too long, with these sorts of remediation issues, the buck has been passed for too long with no action being taken.
"That is why this government is committed to putting power and agency back into the hands of leaseholders, homeowners and residents so they can hold people to account and get these remediation issues resolved quickly.”
Miss Kumar said she would continue to fight for a resolution to the matter that was fair to residents.
“I will not stand by while my constituents are exploited," she said. "I will continue to push for reform and ensure that residents of Goodrich Mews—and across the country—are treated fairly and with respect.”
