Although the Tchenguiz brothers’ firm Rockwell FC100 is the landlord of the buildings and charges ground rents to the leaseholders, it does not own the buildings outright.
They are owned as part of the freehold, which was still held by housing association Livv Housing until 2022, when it sold it to a company called T R Marketing.
The dormant, Salford-based micro-company – which the BBC has not been able to contact – paid £5,000.
Livv Housing said it sold the land after a “formal valuation” and that it did so because its long-term strategy “did not include plans to build or manage any more high-rise blocks, therefore retention of the land was not necessary”.
Elaine Shaw, 68, bought her flat in Willow Rise in 2007 for £66,000 plus fees.
She said she had hoped the rental income would give her a more comfortable retirement after being widowed, but now was on antidepressants and suffering from acute anxiety.
But with the building about to close, she feared her investment was now worthless.
Ms Shaw said she had no idea what the sale of the freehold meant for her or the other leaseholders who had between them paid millions of pounds for flats on the land.
She added: “I have a whole gamut of feelings – anger, outrage, and disgust at the systems and bodies which have allowed this situation to develop.
“But the most difficult feeling is helplessness. This whole thing has blighted my life.”
She said flat owners’ and taxpayers’ money had gone “down the drain”, adding: “We’ve been totally drained for years.”