REHOUSING almost one hundred people after a block of flats was evacuated cost Bradford Council £12,410.

Residents of Appleton Point, in Hamm Strasse, were given 16 hours' notice to leave their homes after the building failed a fire safety inspection on February 13.

The homes are still empty because the extensive work required to make the apartments liveable again - including the compartmentation and cladding - has not been carried out.

It has now emerged that the company who built the flats, Mederco Limited, was given a quote of £40,000 to complete the compartmentation work, but it has now gone into administration.

Compartmentation is an element of passive fire protection, and involved dividing a building into compartments using fire doors, fire-resistant materials in the walls and ceilings, and barriers to stop fire spreading between levels.

The occupants - a mix of students, young professionals and families - were offered temporary accommodation, rendering them effectively homeless after the flats were shut down.

The £9 million development opened in 2014 with 160 rooms, and was named in honour of Bradford's Nobel Prize-winning physicist Edward Appleton

A Bradford Council spokeswoman, said: “Our Housing Options team assisted in the evacuation and rehousing of 99 households with 38 of these placed in interim accommodation.

"In addition students were referred to the University and to Unipol (17). Some households after initial advice found their own accommodation.

"The total costs of rehousing and security arrangements were £12,410."

An administrators report on Mederco Limited - owned by former Bury FC chairman Stewart Day since 2013 - was complied by Leeds-based Leonard Curtis.

The administrators were appointed on January 25 - nearly three weeks before the building was evacuated.

The report revealed Mederco had sold their interest in the 160 flats there to E&J Ground Rents No 11 LLP, in May 2015, for £850,000.

But the firm retained the parking provisions there and had sold off 34 of the 40 parking spaces, for under-leases of £9,995 each.

Appleton Point's fire safety issues first came to light shortly after the administrators became involved and liaised with the former property manager, Residential Management Group Limited (RMG).

The report reads: "On making enquiries about the site it became apparent that there had been fire inspections undertaken prior to our appointment.

"RMG advised there are significant fire safety issues with the building due to non-compliant cladding and poor build quality resulting in fire compartmentation failures.

"On 13th February 2019, we attended a meeting at Bradford Borough Council offices, which was also attended by West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, together with the architect and building control inspector for Appleton Point.

"The outcome of this meeting was due to the severity of fire safety issues West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service issued a Prohibition Notice prohibiting the building from being occupied.

"This has resulted in all occupants vacating Appleton Point until the property has been made safe to their satisfaction.

"It is understood this work will include the replacement of the cladding with suitable fire resistance material, installation of an alarm system and works to improve the compartmentation of the building.

"Stewart Day had been working with RMG and West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service to try to resolve these issues and had obtained a quote of £40,000 to rectify the compartmentation problems, however, the company did not have the funds to complete these works."