Revealed: more than 200 Ronan Point-style blocks still have gas and may not have had strengthening work
More than 200 tower blocks built in a method prone to collapse still have a gas supply and may not have had recommended strengthening works carried out, figures obtained by Inside Housing reveal.
A Freedom of Information response from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) showed that 202 buildings with a large panel system (LPS) around England have both a gas supply and no record of the strengthening works which were recommended following the fatal Ronan Point disaster in the 1960s.
The request also revealed there are 740 high rise LPS blocks in total across England, of which 350 still have a gas supply (see box below).
The figures were called “alarming” and “worrying” by experts, who have called on the government to set a national strategy for making these buildings safe.
LPS is a construction method which was popular in the boom era for high-rise council housebuilding in the 1950s and 1960s, which involves bolting together huge precast concrete slabs to quickly build a large structure.
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But buildings of this sort have since been found to be vulnerable to collapse, particularly if a gas explosion dislodges one of the slabs.
This occurred in 1968 in Canning Town, east London, when a kitchen stove explosion at the newly constructed Ronan Point caused one side of the building to collapse, killing four people. Had the building been fully occupied, the death count would likely have been much higher.
Following this disaster, a series of investigations and inquiries recommended strengthening work to the remaining LPS buildings. Although, successive governments failed to follow up to ensure this was done.
The BSR has prioritised high rise LPS buildings that retain a gas supply and may not have had strengthening work in its first round of building safety case reports.
Owners of these buildings are required to submit one of these documents, which must include a structural survey, by 31 March 2025.
So far, the BSR has identified 202 such buildings and has received a safety case from 180 of them, leaving 22 outstanding with just weeks remaining before the deadline.
The regulator said it is “actively investigating” these cases and “will take the appropriate enforcement action where necessary.”
After receiving the safety case, the BSR assesses it and issues a building assessment certificate if it is content that the property is safe to occupy.
It is yet to issue a single building assessment certificate for any LPS building. Were it to decide any were unsafe for continued occupation, thousands of households could be rendered homeless.
“We are alarmed by the number of LPS blocks that still contain a gas supply, despite the known risks established over 55 years ago since the Ronan Point disaster,” said Danielle Gregory, project manager at Tower Blocks UK, after being shown Inside Housing’s data.
“The government must take action and lead an urgent national response to mitigate the threat of progressive collapse.
“We need to see an immediate co-ordination of funding and resources to address this LPS crisis and to prevent another tower block disaster from occurring.”
Stephen Flounders, executive director of regulatory and business services at housing association Gentoo, which has been dealing with LPS blocks in its stock, said: “The number of LPS buildings above 18 metres with mains gas that have not had remediation work is worrying.
“While the government and the housing sector has rightly focused on improving fire safety since the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, very little has been said about the safety and future of LPS buildings.
“The social housing sector needs to start talking more about the challenges of these buildings and working together to influence the government to develop a national strategy that is supported by appropriate funding.”
LPS buildings have long been a known risk in UK housing, but have never been fully addressed.
Following the Ronan Point disaster, a public inquiry recommended that gas be disconnected from all of these buildings until they could be sufficiently strengthened.
But over the years, this work was left to building owners without sufficient oversight.
In numbers: safety cases for LPS buildings
740
High rise LPS buildings in total in England according to the Building Safety regulator, 254 of which have been asked to provide a safety case in the first phase
350
LPS buildings which the regulator believes continue to have a piped gas supply
202
LPS buildings with a piped gas supply, built before the 1970s and still with a piped gas supply. 180 of these have submitted a safety case so far
Source: Building Safety Regulator’s Freedom of Information response to Inside Housing
In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, there was a renewed concern over the safety of some LPS blocks following the discovery of major cracks on blocks at the Ledbury Estate in Southwark, south London.
The government wrote to local authorities in September 2017 to warn them that they “should take action to ensure that these buildings can carry piped gas safely”.
“You should consider taking expert advice to assure yourselves of this,” the letter said.
Investigations after this letter was published resulted in some residents being moved out of buildings around the country due to concerns over their safety.
Most recently, Barton House in Bristol was emptied of residents. They were then told to return to the building after works were carried out. The process has been described as a “mass traumatising event” by a medical charity that researched the impact on residents.
Inside Housing reported on leaked government minutes in November 2023, which showed experts had advised “that many [LPS buildings] were not strengthened post Ronan Point”.
“The member suggested that a view should be taken by government at a national level across the whole LPS estate as to what is an acceptable risk level for these buildings, combined with standardised risk mitigation measures,” the leaked minutes said.
But a lack of action on behalf of ministers led the civil servant responsible to resign in protest.
One building safety expert questioned how building owners could justify their claims that buildings were safe if they had a gas supply and had not had safety work.
“How can a building owner claim that such a building is safe from a foreseeable risk of structural failure, in this instance progressive collapse, if they cannot evidence that the necessary strengthening work was completed, and the building still carries gas,” the source said.
“It’s a comparable scenario to a building owner that hasn’t removed unsafe cladding from the external walls despite knowing the risk.”
A spokesperson for the Building Safety Regulator said: “We remain on track to direct all 1,444 building assessment certificate [BAC] applications for buildings prioritised for assessment by 31 March 2025.
“This first prioritisation group includes the 202 registered LPS buildings built before 1970, which have a gas supply and have uncertainty over reinforcement works.
“Due to the complexities involved, BAC assessments will usually take a minimum of six months to complete.
“The response rate for those applications called in so far is around 93%. BSR is actively investigating the small number of cases where safety case reports have not been received within the 28 days limit for applying, and will take the appropriate enforcement action where necessary.”
The regulator's building safety case regime only applies to high rise blocks - which means any medium rise buildings built using LPS will not be included in its monitoring.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not respond to a request for comment.
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