Collapse in trust for social landlord

The relentless downpour and loaded grey sky beyond the glass walls of Preston Crown Court captured the mood of all of those inside as Blackpool Coastal Housing (BCH) was sentenced over the collapse of a balcony in May 2012 - seven years after the first warnings of the structure’s failing.

Although no one was injured in the incident, one resident of Newby Place in Mereside had to jump into his flat as the balcony crumbled beneath his feet and several tenants had to be evacuated by the emergency services as the debris hit a gas pipe. The arm’s-length management organisation (ALMO) pleaded guilty on 16 April 2014 to an offence against Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The sentencing was moved from Blackpool Magistrates’ Court to Preston Crown Court on 1 August, where the sentencing powers are stronger.

The ALMO - set up in 2006 - had already shelled out £3.4m on upgrading the rest of its balconies in the wake of the incident. The sentencing hearing was told how, time after time, BCH had failed in its duties to its tenants before the ALMO’s management team were left to anxiously await the return of judge Stuart Baker with a decision as to how much more of a fine it would be stung with.

During the prosecution’s outlining of the facts, Judge Baker had expressed his frustration about the ‘lacuna’ in the law that stopped him from being able to punish the staff of BCH as they were ‘sheltered by the corporate company’. Interrupting prosecutor Sophie Cartwright as she catalogued the ALMO’s missed opportunities to act, he put on the record for the court that there was no way in which those personally in the wrong could be brought to justice.

He later interrupted defence counsel Kevin McLoughlin to enquire whether the local council would take the housing service back in-house if the ALMO went into administration. Again, the answer seemed to be a disappointing one - such a move would ultimately hit tenants.

The landlord had put aside £135,000 for a fine that could, in theory, have been limitless. BCH received a £50,000 fine, along with prosecution fees of more than £27,000. John Donnellon, chief executive of BCH, who was appointed in May, says that the costs do not put the ALMO in financial strife because both have been factored into the 30-year business plan. He adds consultants are carrying out a ‘cultural review’ and examining its asset management to make sure this kind of incident never happens again.

The case poses major questions about what lessons can be learned by the sector. In the wake of the balcony collapse, Philip Wright, principal structural engineer at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), drafted a letter to the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) asking how common the cantilever balcony type is and whether guidance had been provided for the ‘owners’ of such balconies to alert them to potential problems. As a result, an alert went out from the LABC and the HSE to all local authorities in England and Wales. Since then, there have been no similar incidents with this type of balcony.

Hear no evil, see no evil
While the issue of the structural failings was obviously important enough for a governmental alert, it is the ignored pleas of the residents that is even more concerning for Tenant Participation Advisory Service board member Alison Inman. The prosecutor stressed in court that the residents’ pleas to the BCH repairs team went unheard, with one tenant writing a letter of complaint once a month for the five-year period.

Mr Donnellon, who comes from a council regeneration background, stresses the key lessons are that ‘it pays to get your asset management right’. He adds that it is ‘critical’ to have the organisational ability to deal with incidents when they happen.

Ms Inman says the case should make the sector think about communication between departments and ensuring tenants know who to speak to if they feel they aren’t being heard. However, she says the key lesson is that there should be more tenant involvement in asset management.

‘While some organisations are better than others in working with tenants to identify things that might be slipping through the cracks, this case highlights that there is room for improvement in the sector. Landlords, residents and contractors should be working as a team to share intelligence, and this case highlights how easily things can go wrong if this doesn’t happen.’