'We were getting back to normal, then had to leave our home'

A woman forced to leave her flat due to the sprinkler system not working has said she flagged an issue with property management more than six months ago.

Jemima Staddon, 35, had an unrelated fire at her home at Riverside House in November, two months after she told Barnsdales that water was leaking through her sprinkler.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) investigated the building on Mowbray Street, Sheffield, after the fire, and last week issued a notice that residents had to stay elsewhere due to the sprinklers not working.

Barnsdales said it was "100% committed" to resolving the situation, but Staddon said a lack of direction had made it "10 times worse for everyone".

The company has told residents the prohibition order could be in place for anywhere between a few days and three months.

At about 16:30 each day, residents received an email to say whether they would be allowed to return to their homes the following day, Staddon said.

The company has been paying each household £60 daily, which it described as a "gesture of goodwill".

"Doing their due diligence with our service charges and keeping us safe, that is professional - none of this has been out of goodwill," Staddon added.

The primary school teacher said £60 was "not getting us anything" in terms of local accommodation during the World Snooker Championships.

The "day-by-day" updates meant she and her husband Nathan, who is also a teacher, could not plan for things like meals, laundry or accommodation.

They have had less than two months to "exhale", as renovations following damage caused by the fire had only finished in February.

"For this to happen when we were just getting our home back to peaceful and normal - it's draining," she said.

"It's been quite relentless."

They are only allowed to go into the building briefly, for example to pick up clean clothes or visit and feed their cats, who are still living there.

The couple have been staying with friends during the week and with Staddon's mother in Manchester at the weekend, but costs have already been "stacking up".

"The fuel is the highest it's ever been," Staddon said.

"There's no point where we really have had any financial respite."

They have to continue pay £175 in service fees despite not being allowed to live at the building, on top of the mortgage, ground rent and council tax.

Staddon said she had been allowed to look around the apartment last year after the fire was put out.

"One of the firefighters went, 'why didn't the sprinklers go off?', and he seemed quite annoyed," she said.

"I was just in pure shock. I was like, 'I don't understand, I just pay the service fee'."

Of the £21,000 due to be collected in service fees this financial year from the 10 households, £4,200 was allocated for sprinkler system maintenance and planning.

An order from SYFR in February, after the investigation concluded, said Barnsdales "was not aware of the sprinkler system in place at the premises" and that the system needed to work due to the layout of each apartment.

The prohibition notice handed down on 15 April said there were "inadequate means of escape" from the building.

A spokesperson said the notice would "remain in force until the matters are remedied".

"Fire safety officers will continue to work with the business to support them in resolving the above issue, and to enable the notice to be lifted," they added.

A spokesperson for Barnsdales said earlier this week that the company was working closely with SYFR and other stakeholders to "address the prohibition notice and all concerns raised".

"We continue to communicate with all tenants and are 100% committed to bringing the situation to satisfactory closure for all involved," they added.

"A strategy to mitigate the risk to life has been proposed to South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue for review and we await their decision."

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