How Highbury looks now

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AN Art Deco gem with its famous marble halls and grand stands, Arsenal’s old Highbury stadium still commands a special affection among the fans.

But the charm is wearing a little thin for some of the leaseholders who moved into new flats after the ground’s redevelopment as “Highbury Square”. It has now been five years since residents were told their homes posed a possible fire hazard due to the cladding used, but the site still requires men in hi-vis jackets to patrol the corridors on a 24-hour “waking watch”.

The fire marshals are there – at a cost of more than £100,000 a month – because the flats remain potentially unsafe, it was claimed this week, while work at the site has yet to begin.

In the meantime, flat owners say they are stuck “in limbo”, unable to remortgage and restricted, they say, to selling to cash buyers.

Erol Mehmet is a die-hard Arsenal fan, and loved the magic of living in his club’s former stadium. Now he and his partner want to sell up and buy a house, but they say they can’t because their flat is unmortgage­able due to the cladding.

“It’s just one nightmare after the other,” he told the Tribune. “No one can sell and if you can sell, then you’re selling for cash at a huge loss. We’re in jail. Essentially, we’re in jail. We’re trapped.”

When the flats first went on sale, the rush to secure a unique property steeped in football history saw former Arsenal players get involved with legendary winger Robert Pires buying one at the time.

But the properties appear to have plummeted in value amid the uncertainty over fire safety risks. In a city where the price of homes normally goes up, Land Registry records show some flats in the South Stand apartments being sold for thousands of pounds less than they were bought for almost a decade ago.

A fire marshal at Highbury Square this week

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said that when they tried to remortgage their home they were unable to secure a loan. “I’m fairly fortunate, I’m not looking to sell or move any time soon, but it is ridiculous,” they added. “Some people who have kids have been trapped in one bedroom for years.”

Arsenal Holdings Limited remains the freeholder of the apartments, through Highbury Holdings Limited.

Mr Mehmet said: “I’m a total Arsenal fan boy, but I’m still p****d off with the club. We all want them to do something.

“We want Arsenal to pull their finger out, reimburse us the million-odd quid that they owe us at the moment – for the patrols, the costs of the tests that have to be done. They’re the freeholder, we’re just leaseholders.”

Residents pay a service charge which they say would not be so high if the costs of the waking watch patrol was not required.

Another resident told the Tribune: “Arsenal have got a lot of money. So why are they making our lives difficult, crashing the flat prices? The cost of one player could pay for works on five buildings like this. Everyone knows who should pay.”

Michael, a leaseholder who bought a flat in 2017 but did not want his surname published, said a drawn-out process had been frustrating.

He said: “I haven’t got time to attend the cladding meetings, keep up with all the updates. From what I gather, they’re just kicking the can down the road. Our hands are tied.”

An Arsenal spokesperson said: “Highbury Holdings Limited continues to engage constructively with Highbury Square Management Company Limited to identify, and agree the best way for the parties to rectify, relevant defects arising from the original building works.

“Highbury Holdings Limited takes this matter seriously and it has appointed experts to undertake this process, and to liaise with Highbury Square Management Company Limited’s experts, to resolve matters.

“The process is ongoing and there are complex and technical matters for the experts to work through, which takes time.

“It is Highbury Holdings Limited’s intention to continue to engage constructively with Highbury Square Management Company Limited and its experts in order to resolve matters as soon as practically possible.”

• Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn is not shy about talking about his support for Arsenal, but said he was “extremely disappointed” with the lack of progress at Highbury Square.

“Leaseholders have been stung with very high insurance bills,” he said. “Also paying for waking watch most of the time, and uncertainty because they cannot move and they cannot sell their flats if that’s what they choose to do.”

Mr Corbyn added that he had approached Lord Harris, Chair of Arsenal Holdings, but was said he was “dissatisfied with the answers I have received”.

He added: “I’ve taken the matter up with the government, and insisted that they make the freeholders and the contractors pay for the removal of all the dangerous cladding to give the residents peace of mind.”