New update on fire safety remediation in social housing from Building Safety Regulator

In August 2023, private registered providers (PRPs) and local authority registered providers (LARPs) were asked to submit data to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on the fire safety remediation of 11 metre plus buildings that they were responsible for.

The survey is to help provide an overview of whether landlords:

• are meeting their obligations under the Fire Safety (Regulatory) Order 2005 for assessing fire safety risks associated with the relevant parts of those buildings;
• understand any risks they identify and how they should be addressed, particularly in relation to external wall systems (EWS) and;
• have plans in place to remediate buildings they have identified as having life critical fire safety risks in a timely manner.

It is for boards and councillors to understand landlords’ legal obligations in relation to managing the safety of buildings and seek assurance that they are being met, and that any identified risks are being well managed and promptly remedied.

Ensuring organisations have robust systems and processes, underpinned by accurate and up to date data on fire safety and its management, is a key aspect of ensuring that tenants are safe in their homes.

The data submissions for the November survey demonstrate some overall improvement in providers’ delivery of remediation from the first survey. There is an improved response rate to this survey compared to the first survey. Some landlords have also improved their data quality, reporting that they have undertaken further work to gain a clearer understanding of their stock which is in scope of the survey. The data provided in this summary are not directly comparable with the information provided following the first survey for these reasons. This is explored in more detail in the main section of the report.

Of the 1,437 landlords where we hold data, 30% identified themselves as being responsible for at least one 11 metre plus building, the majority of whom are large landlords.

In total, landlords reported 17,320 buildings over 11 metres in height. The majority of these, 12,467 (72%), are 11-18 metre buildings, with 4,853 buildings (28%) measuring 18 metres or more in height.

Fire risks assessments have been undertaken on 97.6% of all buildings reported, with a further 1.5% planned in the next nine months.

A total of 1,952 buildings were identified with a LCFS defect relating to the external wall system (EWS), which is 11.5% of all 11 metre plus buildings landlords are responsible for. Work is complete on 10% of these buildings (^7) and is underway on a further 27%. Work is due to commence on 24% of those buildings by September 2024.

Landlords report that 78% of buildings with EWS related LCFS defects are expected to be remediated within the next 5 years, including 18% of buildings by September 2024.