After recent Tower fire tragedies, a 2017 report by the Housing and Finance Institute has built a picture of what comes next for UK housing in the wake of the disaster, and how the government can react.
The report outlines three needs: to pause on the building of any new high-rise blocks, to review how existing residential tower blocks can be made safer (including sprinkler installations), and to speed up house building throughout the country, including re-housing those affected in high-rise homes.
For those who might benefit from a quick summary of the report, the three key themes for action are: the need to repair, protect, and build as a response.
Repair
The report calls for the government to allocate funding to repair tower blocks - including flats built just two years ago. High-risk premises will also need to be identified and made safer through a nationally funded programme to check all potentially affected buildings.
This will impact student housing, care homes, office blocks, and hotels - in short, all types of commercial and residential property.
The report also argues that it would be grossly unfair forindividuals to be asked to contribute towards improvements to unsafe buildings. Instead, all structural remediation costs should be covered by the building block owner or the public purse.
Protect
With more than 75 tower blocks already identified as ‘at risk’, a pause is essential to understand what has gone wrong and ensure public safety for the future.
Overall fires have reduced across England, but there is no doubt that more can be done to protect people in their homes. In 2015/16, 76% of fire related fatalities and 75% of fire related casualties occurred in people’s homes. The report also stresses a growing need for fire protection systems, as installation and maintenance costs have prevented widespread adoption of sprinklers across the UK.
A report from the Chief Fire Officers’ Association highlights that ‘The main cost associated with domestic fire sprinkler systems is the capital cost of installation which is estimated to be about 1-2% of the total cost of construction.’ It also stresses that there are also ‘ongoing annual maintenance costs in the range of £75-£150 per year’ for every system repair.
It is clear that to appease those worried about installation and maintenance costs, longer lasting, easy-installation solutions are required, as well as government support for installation costs.
Build
The report draws comparisons between the Grenfell fire and the Ronan Point fire in 1968, where survivors described the scene: “Suddenly our bedroom wall fell away with a terrible ripping sound. We found ourselves staring out over London. Our heads were only a matter of two feet from the eighty-foot drop.”
After Ronan Point, it took ‘decades’ for public confidence to be re-secured in high-rise residences.
However, the report stresses a need for one million extra homes to close the housing deficit. In response, there is a call for a ‘renaissance in design’, including delivering greater housing numbers through low and mid-rise developments.
A renaissance in different design may rebalance the housing market across the nation, delivering more homes outside big cities and appropriate density in larger cities with lower rise developments. This will keep the housing market moving should confidence be lost in high-rise residences.
Wales - leading by example
In Wales, plenty is being done to ensure housing developers meet fire safety regulations, but there must be a bigger response across the UK to ensure the safety of new and already existing households.
This is where BlazeMaster® CPVC piping comes in. BlazeMaster Fire Protection Systems are fully approved, cost-effective protection systems, flexible and perfect for retrofits with minimal difficulty for both installers and residents.
And remember, when it comes to CPVC fire protection systems, not all orange pipe is the same. For the reliability and trustworthiness of BlazeMaster Fire Protection Systems, ask for it by name.
