TV star whose house has unsafe cladding hopes tragedy won't repeat itself

A much-anticipated report was published on Wednesday saying the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people, was the result of “decades of failure” by the government and the construction industry to address the dangers posed by combustible materials in high-rise buildings.

The 69-year-old, who played Officer Crabtree in the long-running BBC sitcom set in occupied France during World War II, owns a flat on the top floor of a building in Liverpool's Royal Quay housing complex.

The housing complex consists of seven buildings and comprises around 200 apartments. Following the Grenfell fire, its facade cladding was assessed for safety risks.

The complex was found to have unsafe cladding and other fire safety deficiencies and is currently undergoing “expensive” renovation work, Bostrom told the PA news agency.

Mr Bostrom, a member of the board of directors of his apartment complex, said in response to the report: “I am not surprised and I think I have gotten over the shock because I knew there was obviously a lot of sloppy activity going on here.”

The actor said he is “always shocked” when he hears about unsafe conditions in buildings and “always shocked when it continues.”

He said he was “glad” that the report had been published and hoped it would provide an “absolute boost” to solutions to fire safety problems in residential buildings.

“We know from the Labour Party's reports what the state of our country's assets is and how much money we are missing,” he said.

“There is not much money. It is unclear whether the money will be available for this…

“But I think it has to be that way because buildings have to be made safe because we know that we long for good, safe buildings.

“So it has to be done, and it has to be clarified so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Following the fatal fire in the Grenfell building, the building had to be inspected by Mr Bostrom.

“Until after the Grenfell attack, I had no suspicion that there was anything wrong with the building,” he said.

“We were tested just before lockdown in the first part of the pandemic and were surprised to get the result that our disguise had failed on the first day of the first lockdown, so that wasn't great.

“We have a representation on the outside of the building, so you can't immediately see what's underneath.”

An investigation criticized not only the building's facade cladding but also “many other aspects of the building,” including the smoke extraction systems, Bostrom said.

According to Mr Bostrom, the building required the installation of new fire stations to monitor the building 24 hours a day, initially costing £32,000 a month, but this was reduced after some residents began to take on the stations on a voluntary basis.

The building insurance had “risen enormously”. It had been at £56,000 a year before the insurer quoted £500,000 after safety inspections. That led to another insurer charging £300,000, Bostrom said.

He added that “very sensitive” fire alarms have been installed that automatically alert the local fire brigade, resulting in up to two calls per week.

The additional costs resulted in an increase in service charges for residents, which peaked at £2,500 a month for Mr Bostrom.

Buildings over 18 metres tall are eligible for funding from the Government's Building Safety Fund to remove unsafe cladding. However, only two of the buildings at Royal Quay were eligible for this funding.

The costs for other fire protection measures are not covered by the safety fund.

Mr Bostrom describes the living conditions since renovations began on the building: “Five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., there is a lot of noise, people are crashing on scaffolding, the windows are covered, you can't see out and things like that.”