A council surveyor said that a building in Oldham town centre was in ‘no immediate danger’ – just three weeks before it dramatically collapsed.
Five people ‘self-evacuated’ from the building at 31 King Street, shortly before a structural wall caved in at around 12.30pm on March 24. Three people were said to have been injured in the incident, and two were treated in hospital, but luckily none suffered life-threatening or life-changing injuries.
The building, which housed Euro King Mini Market and private rental homes for two tenants, is part-owned by Oldham Group councillor Kamran Ghafoor and his business partner Sameer Zulqurnain under the firm KKS Investors.
The council confirmed that concerns about the state of the building were lodged with police and the local authority on March 1. GMFRS and a council building assessor secured the area and investigated.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the surveyor deemed the building not to be at ‘immediate risk’ of collapse and referred the issue back to the landlord. Structures deemed to be in imminent danger are immediately secured for public safety, with emergency works charged to the owner.
However, the building surveyor reportedly raised concerns about the state of the building and previous remedial works. As per UK property law, it is the landlord’s responsibility to maintain the structure of the building, which has been privately owned by KKS Investors since 2019.
Coun Ghafoor claimed his company brought in a structural engineer on March 2 following the report by the council surveyor, and submitted a building notice to the council on March 9 to carry out repairs. Scaffolding was erected in order to rebuild the external walls, but no works were carried out between March 2 and the collapse of the building.
Coun Ghafoor said: “KKS Investors Ltd would like to reassure residents and the wider public that the company has acted responsibly at all times, following all appropriate rules, regulations, and safety procedures.
“At no point would residents or tenants who have been allowed to occupy the building had any authority – including the council, building control, or fire services – deemed the property to pose a safety risk.”
It’s understood around 40 people required temporary accommodation overnight as a result of the collapse.
The council is currently carrying out an investigation to uncover the cause of the collapse. A spokesperson said: “Right now, our focus is to support the people most affected by the collapse of the building. We are hopeful that the majority of the residents who live in the properties outside of the safety cordon will return home as soon as possible.
“We know that people will rightly want to know how this could have happened, and that is why, in collaboration with the Health and Safety Executive, a full investigation is underway into this privately owned building. HSE Inspectors and GMP are on site as we speak to undertake a complete assessment, and we are supporting them with this enquiry.”
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