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We are committed to ensuring residents are safe and secure in their homes
Theresa May explains why she welcomes Inside Housing’s Never Again campaign on fire safety
In the 16 months since the Grenfell tragedy I have spoken to many survivors, to friends and relatives of those who were lost, and to local residents.
I will never forget what they told me about that terrible night. And I will never falter in my determination to see that such a tragedy never happens again.
That’s why I welcome Inside Housing’s Never Again campaign.
This magazine has a long and proud history as a champion of building safety, and I share its commitment to making sure all our homes are as safe as they can be.
The Hackitt Review was very clear that the current regulatory system is not fit for purpose.
“This magazine has a long and proud history as a champion of building safety”
This government agrees and we are committed to bringing forward legislation that delivers meaningful and lasting change, and our plans will be published later this year.
In the meantime, our comprehensive Building Safety Programme continues to provide clear, evidence-led information and guidance to building owners.
When issues have been identified, such as failures within the fire door industry, we have moved quickly to keep people safe.
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We are providing the £400m needed to remove and replace unsafe cladding on high-rise properties belonging to councils and housing associations, and we have consulted on banning such cladding altogether, with the results of the consultation to be published shortly.
While ensuring tenants’ homes are safe is a vital duty of any landlord, we should not fall into the trap of thinking it should be their sole concern. Because the Grenfell tragedy also shone a light on the issue of tenant engagement.
From knowing that serious complaints will be listened to and acted upon to having a say over something as simple as who cleans communal areas, social housing residents across the country have told us they want greater control over their homes and their lives.
I am working to make sure they have it and the Social Housing Green Paper sets out how – including making it easier for residents to raise complaints, ensuring tenants’ voices are heard and giving the regulator real enforcement powers when things go wrong.
As Paul Hackett, chair of the G15, wrote in Inside Housing, the green paper is a milestone on resident involvement.
And – alongside our work on building regulation and our commitment to ending the stigma that some still attach to social housing – it is very clear evidence of this government’s commitment to making sure residents are safe and secure in their homes, that their complaints are listened to and acted upon, and that a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again.
Theresa May, prime minister of the United Kingdom
Never Again campaign
In the days following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, Inside Housing launched the Never Again campaign to call for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
One year on, we have extended the campaign asks in the light of information that has emerged since.
Here are our updated asks:
GOVERNMENT
- Act on the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations to tower blocks of 18m and higher. Commit to producing a timetable for implementation by autumn 2018, setting out how recommendations that don’t require legislative change can be taken forward without delay
- Follow through on commitments to fully ban combustible materials on high-rise buildings
- Unequivocally ban desktop studies
- Review recommendations and advice given to ministers after the Lakanal House fire and implement necessary changes
- Publish details of all tower blocks with dangerous cladding, insulation and/or external panels and commit to a timeline for remedial works. Provide necessary guidance to landlords to ensure that removal work can begin on all affected private and social residential blocks by the end of 2018. Complete quarterly follow-up checks to ensure that remedial work is completed to the required standard. Checks should not cease until all work is completed.
- Stand by the prime minister’s commitment to fully fund the removal of dangerous cladding
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
- Explore options for requiring remedial works on affected private sector residential tower blocks
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Take immediate action to identify privately owned residential tower blocks so that cladding and external panels can be checked
LANDLORDS
- Publish details of the combinations of insulations and cladding materials for all high rise blocks
- Commit to ensuring that removal work begins on all blocks with dangerous materials by the end of 2018 upon receipt of guidance from government
- Publish current fire risk assessments for all high rise blocks (the Information Commissioner has required councils to publish and recommended that housing associations should do the same). Work with peers to share learning from assessments and improve and clarify the risk assessment model.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out. Ensure assessments consider the external features of blocks. Always use an appropriate, qualified expert to conduct assessments.
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in the light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
- Adopt Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommended approach for listening to and addressing tenants’ concerns, with immediate effect
CURRENT SIGNATORIES:
- Chartered Institute of Housing
- G15
- National Federation of ALMOs
- National Housing Federation
- Placeshapers
The Paper Trail: The Failure of Building Regulations
Read our in-depth investigation into how building regulations have changed over time and how this may have contributed to the Grenfell Tower fire:
