Building Safety Update

Our ongoing focus on fire and building safety ensures this remains a top priority.  

Our promise to you is to keep you updated on a regular basis - every three months - through this newsletter. If there is a specific update related to your block, you will receive this by letter and via your notice board. We also hold residents’ meetings at blocks where substantial work is planned or underway.   

Update on Government legislation

Update on the Building Safety Act

The Building Safety Act, which came into effect on 28 June 2022, requires all higher-risk buildings in England to be registered on a Buildings Register.

Under the Act, higher-risk buildings are defined as 18 metres or more in height, or 7 storeys or more with at least two residential units. They are often referred to as high-rise buildings.

The Act also introduces two new roles – Accountable Persons (AP) and Principal Accountable Persons (PAP). The Principal Accountable Person (PAP) for your block will be responsible for completing the registration process of high-rise buildings with the newly established Building Safety Regulator, which opened on 13 April 2023, by 30 September 2023.

In addition, the Building Safety Act requires the new Building Safety Regulator to oversee the new Statutory Residents’ Panel to ensure residents are placed at the heart of the new regulatory regime.

The Panel, whose members were recruited during a robust and objective recruitment process, met for the first time at the end of January 2023. They will be supported by organisations that represent high-rise building residents.

To learn more about the Statutory Residents’ Panel and its work, please visit https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/residents-panel.htm.

Update on our work at One Housing

Our Cladding Remediation Programme

Our priority is, and always has been, the safety of our residents. 

Following the remediation of six buildings across three sites, we currently have 15 cladding remediation projects underway with completions planned between Summer 2023 and early next year.

We also continue our programme to review the external walls of our purpose-built buildings and undertake intrusive surveys where required to be able to determine the full materials used in a building’s external wall system.

The surveys need to be carried out by a qualified Fire Engineer and are usually completed in two or three days depending on the building size and material make up (please see photos below).

Photos: The intrusive survey involves opening the area on the external facade

It should then take an average of eight to twelve weeks from the survey until we get the written report. However due to the professional indemnity insurance and shortage of qualified fire engineers, this is taking substantially longer. Once completed, we share a summary of the report with the residents in the block/development. To date we have provided 189 complaint EWS1 certificates, helping those that have been unable to sell, now do so.

Please note that from January 2023, six UK lenders (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander) consider mortgage applications on medium and high rise (11 metres and higher) properties with cladding, providing there is proof that cladding remediation work will be covered by developers, leaseholder protections or a recognised government scheme.

We are also aware that lenders have started requesting leaseholder and landlord’s certificates as part of the selling process. If you need more information, please read the guidance here.

We hope this will be a relief for many leaseholders who have outgrown their homes for various reasons and have not been able to sell or re-mortgage.

In addition, we’re making compliant EWS1 forms that we hold for our buildings available for download from our website so if you need a copy, you can access it here. If you cannot find a EWS1 for your building and your lender has requested one, please contact ASK, as not all blocks require one.

If you are unsure whether you need the EWS1 form for your building, please read the guidance from RICS. Please note that lenders will only accept EWS1 forms that have been completed by a building owner, freeholder or managing agent. As a homeowner, you are unable to instruct a surveyor to do it for you.

We own hundreds of buildings and therefore need to prioritise them on the basis of safety factors, including height and type of external wall materials used.  If we are not the freeholder of the building or have responsibility for its structure, we work with the responsible landlord and managing agent to help obtain the confirmation of compliance.

If you are waiting for an EWS1 form for your building because it has an external wall cladding system, it does not mean that your building is unsafe. We carry out regular fire risk assessments that highlight any works that might be required, as well as routine visual checks of communal areas to ensure there are no fire hazards.

Our new Building Safety Resident Engagement Strategy

The Building Safety Act requires all owners of high-rise buildings to adopt a resident engagement strategy to enable residents to participate in decisions about the safety risks in their buildings. It will need to set out:

• what information will be provided to residents
• what decisions they will be consulted on
• how residents' views will be taken into account; and
• how the appropriateness of consultation undertaken will be measured.

As resident involvement is at the heart of everything we do, we are committed to establishing a new Resident Building Safety Panel so you can have your say on how we engage with you and communicate important building safety information.

If you would like to join the Panel or have any suggestions about how we can improve our approach to engaging with residents in relation to the safety of your home, please contact the Resident Engagement Team at residentengagements@onehousing.co.uk. 

This is a crucial inspection as fire doors play an essential role in maintaining the safety of your building and will ensure that all doors in our blocks meet the required standards and that they are properly maintained.

To carry out these door inspections, a Savills operative will attend your block and place a small adhesive QR code label shown above on every door within the communal area as well as flat entrance doors. The operative will be in Savills uniform and will carry their ID badge at all times.

The QR code labels are small and discreet, measuring 20mm x 20mm. They will be placed in the top corner of each door on the hinge side to allow us to record information on the type / condition of the door and log future inspections. 

Following the fitting of the QR code label, a Savills operative will attend your block at least once every three months to undertake fire door inspections. During this visit an operative may knock on your door and ask permission to inspect your door on both sides. This inspection should only take a few minutes to undertake.

Fire doors do not only create a barrier from fire and toxic smoke and prevent it from travelling through a building, restricting damage to a small area, but they also protect the means of escape in the event of fire.

Fire doors are usually provided as sets, made up of several parts, all working together to provide a fire barrier, i.e., hinges, a closing device and smoke seals. When one of these parts doesn’t work, it can have a big impact on the performance of the entire door.

If you notice any problems with fire doors or any other fire safety features in your block, please call us 0300 123 9966 or email ask@onehousing.co.uk. Please include “Fire Safety” in the subject line.

Do you need support to evacuate?

Keeping residents safe is our top priority. If you or members of your household need support to evacuate in the event of an emergency, it is important that you let us know. You might need help to evacuate if, for example, you or someone in your household has mobility issues or a visual or hearing impairment. Or there may be young children or older people living with you.

We use the information you provide to help us create personal emergency evacuation plans (known as a PEEPs) if support to evacuate is needed. We share the information with the Fire Brigade and any fire wardens at your development so that they can make sure you and members of your household can be safely evacuated in case of an emergency.

If you or members of your household need support to evacuate please contact us via ask@onehousing.co.uk. Please put "Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan" in the subject line.