The Week in Housing: Tri Fire fall-out continues and hostel manager sounds alarm over supported housing
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Good afternoon.
Since it was first reported in August 2024 that a prolific fire engineer was sanctioned by an industry body, as much as 20% of the sector has been reeling from the news as landlords scramble to understand their exposure to the assessor’s work.
Over the past few months, two major landlords and Homes England have announced they have stopped working with Adam Kiziak and his firm Tri Fire. Also, a bank paused lending on buildings signed off by him.
This week, the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) went further and fully expelled Mr Kiziak for “non-compliance of sanction”.
However, the fall-out continues as leaseholders and landlords assess the quality of risk assessments and External Wall System 1 surveys previously issued.
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The saga has seen one MP ask the government about the IFE’s effectiveness and whether fire engineers should be regulated, which was a recommendation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Another inquiry recommendation will soon be enacted as the responsibility for fire safety passes from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Fire Brigades Union and Fire Industry Association welcomed the move.
A firm whose fire barriers were used on Grenfell Tower has “initiated judicial review proceedings” against the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in a bid to overturn a ban on its products.
A manager of a hostel for homeless people with complex support needs told Inside Housing that she has resigned over “insurmountable” and “systemic” issues facing the supported housing sector.
Part of her reason was there is very little support for staff well-being. It is because of such experiences that Inside Housing is seeking responses from frontline social housing staff to a new survey to see what they think are the biggest issues affecting their job.
One London landlord has appointed the chief executive of Livv Housing Group to a new committee as it aims to get a handle on governance and compliance issues.
Another London association that is currently non-compliant with the English regulator’s governance standard revealed it is looking for a new boss.
A landlord that was saved by the regulator through a special £670,000 payment has been wound down after selling off its social housing assets.
There were a number of trading updates this week. Great Places reported a pre-tax surplus of £25.2m, putting it “ahead of budget” in the third quarter of the financial year.
Also reporting an annual profit ahead of expectations was a Scottish house builder boosted by a land sale, despite reporting delays to affordable housing due to uncertainty around government funding in the first half of the year.
Marking a recent wider shift of landlords introducing a place-based approach to delivering services and bringing them in-house, one association has launched a pilot for a more “hands-on” repairs model.
A senior executive at Hyde explained why he believes housing associations need to evolve into true service organisations by listening to their customers.
Meanwhile, a South West housing association revealed plans to bring its repairs service back in-house following feedback from tenants.
The government published its updated National Procurement Policy Statement, ahead of the Procurement Act 2023 coming into force in a little under a week.
One head of procurement explained how the act will impact contracting authorities and suppliers, while another commentator questioned whether social housing providers are doing enough to hold suppliers accountable.
In Wales, the government has published its final Budget for 2025-26, which includes a capital investment of just over £437m for developing new homes.
While governments across the UK have been announcing hundreds of millions in additional funding for new homes since the start of the year, there is an issue with that money kick-starting housebuilding: a lack of construction skills and capacity.
Inside Housing took a look at a new report into the housebuilding sector that calls for an overhaul of the construction skills system amid a “hollowing-out” of its workforce.
In his first major interview since he took on the top job at Notting Hill Genesis, Patrick Franco told us how he plans to transform the landlord and how it will respond to last year’s non-compliant regulatory gradings.
Have a great weekend.
Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing
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