‘We were left homeless after Manchester Hotspur Press fire’ | Manchester News

“I was just completely homeless.”

A tenant who lives near to the Hotspur Press building in Manchester which was hit by a huge fire has told how she was left to fend for herself after being informed she could not return to her flat.

Stella Trimble, 23, who was one of more than 100 people from Cambridge House to be moved into temporary accommodation on the night of the blaze, said the support since had been “a shambles”.

The Hotspur Press building on Cambridge Street, close to Manchester Oxford Road railway station, was destroyed by a fire on 23 June leading to its partial collapse.

Zenith Management, who look after the building, on 1 Cambridge Street said damage to its fire doors during the evacuation response meant that it would not be habitable for 12 weeks.

An email sent out on 4 July told residents, which includes many students, that the building insurance would be unable to cover any further housing support after 8 July.

Ms Trimble, a mental health nurse who lives with two other nurses in the building, said they were left with nowhere else to go and were at one stage “completely homeless” and left sleeping on a friend’s sofa.

“It’s such a crazy feeling having to say that, I completely never thought I’d be in that position with having a stable job and going in a building which I thought would be safe enough,” she said.

Some of the tenants are students who have been supported with housing by the university, but Ms Trimble said private tenants were being “passed around from service to service”.

“You just expect that you’d be supported a bit better, and it’s just been a shambles,” she said.

Zenith Management said it was not involved in the letting of individual apartments, but that it was “committed to supporting all leaseholders and renters who have been impacted by this incident by providing information and signposting to relevant support services”.

Ms Trimble said Zenith had also told tenants on 11 July that asbestos testing had meant that works were also needed to decontaminate communal areas, meaning residents were now unable to access their flats to get any essentials, like passports.

Zenith has been approached for comment but has not yet responded to these claims.

Manchester City Council said: “While there is no direct evidence of long-term health risks from fires involving asbestos containing materials, it is sensible that any asbestos containing debris is removed to minimise any potential exposure.”

Ms Trimble said throughout her ordeal she had struggled to get any swift support from the council despite an urgent referral by the Centre Point charity, and she felt like she was just “someone’s problem”.

Eventually, she said she was offered a place by the council in a house of multiple occupancy for homeless people but had stayed on her friend’s sofa due to it being nearer to her work place.

The local authority said: “Advice and support has been provided for residents including drop-in sessions from Manchester Student Homes to support residents who may be facing difficulties as a result of having to leave their homes.”

Complete Prime Residential is the letting agent for many of the flats in the building.

The has seen emails where Ms Trimble was advised she could terminate their tenancy because the flat would be uninhabitable for so long, but according to the tenancy agreement the agent was not obliged to rehome her while the work was ongoing.

The has contacted Complete Prime Residential for a response.

According to Shelter UK, most private landlords do not have to give you somewhere else to live during repair work, unless your tenancy agreement has it written in.

“I did think I’d be safe, maybe that’s naïve of me for not dissecting every line of the agreement,” Ms Trimble said.

But she said she felt “blindsided” and never expected something like this to happen.

Zenith Management said that leaseholders were required to arrange their own landlord insurance, which could include rent protection and alternative accommodation, but the management firm was not obliged to provide accommodation to leaseholders’ sub tenants.

Ms Trimble, who will soon be moving into a two-month temporary lease with her flatmates while the work continues, said they were all “massively out of pocket”.

She said they were left banking on the fact that the work is done in time so that they do not find themselves homeless again.

“You don’t exactly feel safe signing anything again now knowing that what’s happened to me is probably the worst outcome for renters,” she said.