One in Ten Social High Rises Have ‘Life Critical’ Fire Safety Defects

According to the latest figures, more than one in 10 social housing high rises were found to have a life critical fire safety defect on its external wall system.

The external wall system is made up of the outside wall of a residential building, including cladding, insulation, fire break systems

The Regulator of Social Housing published its findings from its latest quarterly survey on the fire safety of 11 metre plus buildings in the social housing sector.

‘Life Critical’ Fire Safety Defects

Of the 17,457 relevant buildings reported, 11% were found to have a life critical fire safety (LCFS) defect relating to the external wall system (EWS). Nearly all (99%) had had fire risk assessments undertaken.

Only 204 of the 1,932 affected buildings are due to have remedial work completed within the next six months. Most (84%) are expected to complete in the next five years.

Work has been completed and signed off on 51 (2.6%) of buildings, which are waiting for a follow up fire assessment. Plans were missing or unclear for 535 affected buildings – equivalent to over a quarter.

Some landlords with multiple affected buildings say they are prioritising works on higher risk buildings.

However, landlords have a duty to put interim measures in place to ensure the safety of tenants until works are fully completed.

RSH says it will continue to monitor the performance of landlords in remediating 11m+ buildings.

Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, said: “Fire safety is a fundamental responsibility and we expect all landlords to take prompt and effective action so that tenants can feel safe in their homes.

“This includes putting mitigating measures in place to protect tenants from any risks in the interim period before works are complete.”

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