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More than 1,800 buildings still have ‘life-critical’ safety defects, RSH finds
More than 1,800 buildings owned by local authorities and housing associations still have fire safety defects that are “life critical”, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has found.
Its latest fire safety survey of buildings 11 metres or taller in the sector found that of those 1,820 buildings, 27% have remediation plans that are “unclear or incomplete” for addressing life-critical fire safety (LCFS) defects related to the external wall system.
This is a decrease of 2% compared with December and amounts to 491 buildings.
Some of the reasons landlords gave for this included “being in negotiations with developers over covering the costs of necessary remediation works, prioritising works on higher-risk buildings and working with consultants to complete these assessments”.
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The figure marks a small reduction in the number reported in the regulator’s previous survey, which found that 566 buildings had “unclear or incomplete” remediation plans.
Work is underway on 29% of buildings with LCFS defects, compared with 27% in November, and there are plans in place for the remediation of a further 39% of buildings, the RSH said.
The survey covers 1 January to 31 March 2024.
Landlords were asked to report on the current remediation status of buildings with an LCFS issue, defined as “defects, shrinkages, faults or other failings in a building that give rise to fire safety risks”.
They are identified by carrying out a fire risk assessment (FRA) and fire risk appraisal of external wall construction.
The survey highlights the scale of the ongoing building safety crisis, with this summer marking the seventh anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people died.
Providers had carried out FRAs on 98.5% of buildings reported, with a further 0.7% planned by the end of September 2024, the RSH said.
The majority of buildings with defects relating to external wall safety are expected to have works completed within the next five years.
So far, landlords said work is complete on 6% of the buildings with an LCFS defect, compared with 10% reported in the November survey.
“Some buildings reported as having works complete in the November 2023 survey will have a subsequent FRA identifying no further work is required, meaning they are no longer reported in this part of the survey,” the regulator said.
In total, landlords reported 17,375 buildings over 11 metres in height. The majority of these, 12,447 (72%), are 11-18 metre buildings, with 4,928 buildings (28%) measuring 18 metres or more in height.
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