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Less than half of council tower blocks assessed since Grenfell
Less than half of the council tower blocks in England have had a fresh fire risk assessment (FRA) in the six months since the Grenfell Tower fire, according to figures released to Inside Housing.
More than a thousand tower blocks have been left without fresh FRAs, despite the urgency local councils expressed in the aftermath of the devastating blaze in June.
Inside Housing received information from 60 councils relating to 2,450 tower blocks – defined as six storeys or more – and found that 1,288 (53%) had not had fresh FRAs since the fire that claimed 71 lives in North Kensington.
Almost a third, 755, had not had new FRAs in the past year, meaning they are not compliant with the guidance issued by the Local Government Association in its guide for fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats.
Colin Todd, an expert witness in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, who wrote that guide, said tower blocks should be fire risk assessed every year to comply with the guide for such buildings.
He added: “[The Grenfell fire] probably warrants people with tower blocks looking at their fire precautions. I’d be surprised if most people haven’t at least had a look at their fire precautions.”
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Inside Housing requested spreadsheets from councils under the Freedom of Information Act listing the last risk assessments for their towers.
When contacted for this article, however, some councils disputed their own figures, claiming assessments had been carried out but the spreadsheets had not been updated. This suggests there is potential for some margin of error in the numbers.
In a snap survey by Inside Housing shortly after the Grenfell Tower fire, many social landlords said they were intending to update their FRAs, and others indicated that they were changing their FRA processes to include checks on cladding and inside flats.
Arnold Tarling, fire safety expert and chartered surveyor at Hindwoods, told Inside Housing: “In light of Grenfell, in light of the Ledbury Estate, local authorities should be considering doing level four inspections – intrusive inspections – of their flats to see what has been going on.”
The vast majority of assessments are level one, which only check communal areas and do not typically include external features such as cladding.
According to its spreadsheet, Camden Council has carried out FRAs on just 37 of its 245 tower blocks since the Grenfell fire. A total of 203 of its blocks had not been checked in more than three years and many had not been assessed in more than five.
In total, 9% of tower blocks in the survey – 215 towers – had gone more than three years without checks, with Camden accounting for all but 12 of them.
Mr Todd told Inside Housing: “If these are tower blocks, and 9% haven’t done a risk assessment for more than three years, probably in fairness, it’s time they did.”
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We are committed to delivering a new standard of resident safety in Camden. Every one of our tower blocks above 10 stories has an up-to-date FRA. We are now set to carry out new FRAs for our… buildings which are six to nine stories high and will be publishing these in the New Year.”
Additional comments to come
Grenfell: six months on
We have published a series of articles to mark the six month anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 71 people on 14 June.
Click on the links below to read the pieces:
Six months on from Grenfell, what has changed? Our news team looks at the progress made since the fire
Grenfell: the survivors' stories Read moving speeches to MPs from four people who survived the fire
Councils have no information on privately owned tower blocks It is not just social housing blocks councils need to keep an eye on when it comes to fire safety
Disguised by luxury: fire safety flaws in private blocks revealed Our research challenges Sajid Javid's suggestion a Grenfell-style fire couldn't happen in a luxury block
We need to go much further on fire safety Our editor Emma Maier outlines Inside Housing's view on the state of play
Half of high rises could get sprinkler refit We reveal the sector's projected spend on fire safety improvements since the disaster
The French connection The parallels between a fire in France and the Grenfell tragedy
Less than half of council tower blocks assessed since Grenfell Our exclusive research reveals the state of play regarding councils' fire risk assessments
Circus therapy for children affected by Grenfell How a group offering circus activities is bringing the community together
Dangerous cladding to be removed from giant modular tower blocks Housing association Notting Hill Housing is to spend £8m to remove dangerous material on six of its blocks
