Anxious tenants have been told they face legal action if they don’t cough up almost £14,000 to pay for new fire safety measures at their block of flats.

Georgie Sayers is one of 32 leaseholders of Portland House in Sheerness High Street who have been told they need to fund the £441,000 between them within 30 days or face legal action.

Housing firm Azure, which manages the flats and shops on behalf of Keighley Investments Ltd, says it needs to upgrade the fire safety of the building.

It has carried out new assessments following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 and says it needs to build a metal staircase at the back of the building to act as a fire exit.

The management firm sent the invoice on September 27 meaning the sum must be paid by Sunday.

But Georgie, who has been a leaseholder for around eight years, told KentOnline she fears being made homeless as she cannot pay in the time frame.

The 44-year-old said: “I absolutely cannot pay it and I have not slept since receiving the invoice as I'm terrified.

“I could literally be out on the streets in a few weeks’ time. If they issue us with court orders they could force us to sell our properties.

“If that's the case, I’ve got nowhere else to go and by the time I’ve paid off my existing mortgage and paid them the
£14,000 that they say I owe them, there’s nothing left.

“Nobody’s denying that the work needs doing but it’s a crippling amount of money and to be given such an unreasonable timescale to pay it in, we just don’t know where to go.”

Georgie already pays around £250 per month in service charges, and says despite that the building is “in a constant
state of disrepair” with rubbish everywhere, broken door locks, dirty hallways and potholes in the car park.

Georgie said: “The drainage is also causing problems with water sitting on the roof which becomes stagnant and smells.

“It attracts pigeons who seem to think it's some sort of luxury spa out there.”

Georgie is trying to form a tenants’ association to fight the decision and is calling on all the leaseholders to contact her.

Mum-of-three Heidi Martin-Barshell, a landlord of one of the flats, says she will not be able to afford the bill.

The 49-year-old massage and beauty therapist at Sun Kisses in Minster said: “Are Azure really expecting us to find that
money?

“We have asked for payment plans so that we can afford to pay over a longer period of time but we have been told that this is not possible and that it is our responsibility.

“I haven’t been able to sleep because of this.”

There are some legal protections for leaseholders facing costs for safety works.
However, people have to meet certain criteria to be covered.

They must have a lease of 21 years or more which was granted before February 14 2022 of a single dwelling in a building above 11 metres or at least 5 storeys, be responsible for paying a service charge and the property must be where they spend most of their time.

David Ford, director of Azure Property Consultants Ltd, said the firm “sympathises” with the leaseholders and called for
greater government support.

He said: “We really do sympathise with the long leaseholders in this situation, but above all we have a duty of care
to ensure their safety and are also legally required to carry out this work.

“The initial quote we received stood at £70,000 per flat and we have done our utmost over the course of three years to reduce the costs as much as possible to £14,000 per household.

“We have been in regular dialogue with the leaseholders as part of the consultation process and we are now legally
required to pay for and complete the work as soon as possible.

“We firmly believe that there should be greater government support in this area to help leaseholders across the country who find themselves in this situation, with many buildings not qualifying for funding, as is the unfortunate eality in this case.”