• Residents of the block where I live have just received a letter from the chief executive officer of CityWest Homes regarding fire safety.

One of the points we were asked to check was whether our front doors were self-closing. No mention was made of what the front doors should consist of. Presumably self-closing doors made of tissue paper would meet the requirements. But they don’t.

Several years ago every tenant’s door in the block was replaced. Instead of the old wood (as old as the building, which dated from 1965) these doors only had wood on the outer and inner sides, covering overall solid metal. Along with them came door frames which were also metal, into which strong metal flanges from the heart of the doors slotted when the door was closed. These were as safe as could possibly be imagined.

But incredibly, in a 15-storey block where the standing instruction in the case of fire was that everyone should stay in their flat, there was no requirement that the same doors must be fitted to leaseholders’ property.

So, on floor after floor, leaseholders who apparently begrudged spending money retained the old, increasingly worn, wooden doors. Bad and stupid enough in the case of owner-occupiers, but truly appalling where leaseholders let their flats for huge sums of money yet left those paying for the privilege to fry alive.

Of course, there are good, responsible leaseholders. One told me recently that he had reported again and again the practice of holiday letting, as people arrive and leave with suitcases as though to an hotel every few days. But the only response he’d got was that this was so widespread it couldn’t be dealt with.

Do CityWest Homes know there’s a housing crisis? Do they care? There are people desperate for a permanent home while leaseholders abuse all regulations, and that obviously applies to fire safety doors also.

Do I feel safe here? The flats immediately above and below mine still have the old wooden doors that would burn like matchwood, and of the six flats on my floor two are in the same state, a situation that’s replicated throughout the building.

I no longer trust CityWest Homes with anything, safety least of all. And I hope and pray Westminster Council will insist action is taken urgently to remedy the inertia of years.

ALIDA BAXTER
Dufours Place, W1