Riverside House: Residents told to leave Sheffield apartments over fire safety fears
People living in part of Kelham Island have been out of their homes for more than a week
People living in a Sheffield apartment block have now been unable to sleep there for a week after major problems with fire safety were discovered.
The fire service has served a prohibition notice on the Riverside House apartments in Kelham Island after discovering the sprinkler system didn't work last week.
It limits access to residents, who have been given money to stay elsewhere while the issue is sorted.
Amber Harrison, who lives in one of the affected homes, said: "I invited my family up to stay with me on Wednesday on my birthday and then we found these notes on the door telling us to leave within the hour, otherwise we're going to face legal repercussions."
"It's been a week today now, we've still not been let in. And the management company has offered us £60 per person per night, which doesn't cover the cost of a hotel. So yeah, we're all at a bit of a loose end, really."
"I've had to stay at my cousin's down the road and, you know, she's not going to want me there forever. It'd be nice to have a timeline, to be honest."
A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: "On Wednesday 15th April 2026, business fire safety inspectors served a Prohibition Notice on Riverside Apartments on Mowbray Street, Sheffield.
"The notice prohibits sleeping within the residential flats at any time due to inadequate means of escape.
"It will remain in force until the matters are remedied and the notice is withdrawn. Business fire safety officers will continue to work with the business to support them in resolving the above issue, and to enable the notice to be lifted."
Amber told us there's been a lack of clarity from the company responsible for the building over the next steps.
"We've had drastically different treatment actually from the lettings agents, some of them have not had the best communication" she said.
"The communication with the management company has Improved now, but the first couple of days it was pretty dire. There was no transparency whatsoever really."
A spokesperson for property management company Barnsdales said: "Barnsdales are working closely with all stakeholders, including South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, fire safety experts, and specialist mechanical engineers to address the prohibition notice and all concerns raised."
"We continue to communicate with all tenants and are 100% committed to bringing the situation to satisfactory closure for all involved.
"A strategy to mitigate the risk to life has been proposed to South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue for review and we await their decision."