A social landlord has evacuated its tenants from a 60-home block after a comprehensive review revealed structural issues.

Southern Housing, which owns and manages more than 78,000 homes, was advised by structural engineers last week that its Eastgate block in Woking is suffering from structural defects and is currently not safe to be occupied.

The landlord consequently took immediate steps to evacuate its residents from the building to ensure their safety, and has said that it will ensure that all will be able to access safe alternative accommodation.

The provider will work with residents to find short-term accommodation while undertaking further necessary investigations, and says further investigations will establish the full extent of the structural issues that have been uncovered at the building and identify next steps.

The building was completed in September 2005 and was initially owned under a leasehold interest by another housing provider, which sold its leasehold interest to Southern Housing in 2018.

Paul Hackett, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Housing, said: “I want to express how sorry I am to residents that we have had to take this action. Our main priority is the safety of our residents, and we had no choice but to ask them to leave their homes on Friday (17 November).

“I want to stress that we’ve made this decision with our residents’ well-being in mind, and we are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption. I understand this news is distressing, and I empathise with everyone affected and I’m sorry for the uncertainty this will cause our residents. This is a complex situation, and we had to make a decision based on the new information available to us provided by our technical and legal advisors.”

“We don’t have all the answers yet, and we will work tirelessly to fully understand the extent of the structural issues in the building and what steps to take next. We’ll continue to support our residents and help them navigate through this challenging time. We will work with residents to find alternative housing for everyone, and each resident will have a dedicated member of our team to ensure their specific needs are addressed, both now and in the future.”

Last week, Bristol City Council evacuated 100s of residents from a block in the city after a survey discovered structural issues.