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 specific blocks where substantial work is planned or underway.     

Update on Government legislation

The Building Safety Bill becomes law

The Building Safety Bill received Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament on Thursday 28 April 2022.

The Act introduces measures to ensure the safety of customers living in new and existing homes across the UK. Many of them are expected to come into effect in 12-18 months once secondary legislation is developed.

The Building Safety Act will see the creation of a new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive to implement and enforce a new regulatory regime for residential buildings over 18 metres in height. It will introduce an ‘Accountable Person’ who will have to listen and respond to residents’ concerns and ensure their voices are heard.

In addition, the Act aims to provide a series of protections for leaseholders including the right to launch retrospective legal action against developers or contractors for defective works up to 30 years after a home is completed, along with measures to shield leaseholders from the costs of cladding.

To ensure this, the Government revealed a legally enforceable wide-ranging agreement that will see developers commit a minimum of £2 billion so those responsible for the cladding crisis can meet the costs of remediating buildings. So far, over 35 developers have pledged to fix all medium and high-rise buildings, taller than 11 metres that they have played a role in developing in the last 30 years.

Although this is positive news, it should be noted that beyond this high-level commitment, there are numerous critical details that must be ascertained before remedial works can be carried out, including:

• the nature and extent of alleged defects. This requires careful consideration of the design and as-built construction of the building and whether it met the Building Regulations applicable at the time of construction. The process involves carrying out intrusive inspections.
• the nature and extent of appropriate remedial works to address the defects which requires expert input on an appropriate remedial solution; and
• whether any other parties share responsibility for the defects.

Blocks under 11 metres will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to decide whether the work is needed.  

Our priority is, and always has been, the safety of our residents. We are awaiting further guidance from the Government, and we will update you as soon as we receive more information.

Update on our work at One Housing

Advice on EWS1 forms for leaseholders and shared owners

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have released new guidance regarding EWS1 forms following the release of new methodology for fire risk appraisal, known as PAS9980. It does not replace an EWS1 form, but it provides clear guidelines on how to assess the scope for fire spread via the walls and cladding.

We know that some banks and building societies are requesting an EWS1 form from leaseholders and shared owners who are applying to staircase (buy a greater share of their property), re-mortgage or sell their property.

The EWS1 form is produced by a qualified fire engineer, following an EWS assessment. It confirms to valuers and lenders that an external wall system on a residential building has been assessed by a suitable expert.

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.

It should 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/developments. To date we have provided 100 EWS1 certificates, helping those that have been unable to sell, now do so.

We own hundreds of buildings and therefore need to prioritise them on the basis of safety factors, including height and type of cladding 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 them 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 Cladding Remediation Programme

The Building Safety Act introduces measures to shield leaseholders from the costs of cladding.

While we are awaiting further guidance on this, we are doing everything we can to ensure we minimise the cost of any works. We have made 29 Building Safety Fund applications to obtain the funds to carry out external wall system remediation work and where we have applied to the Fund, we are in communication with residents on a regular basis to keep them updated on the outcome.

We currently have 11 remediation projects underway that cover 21 buildings.

We are in regular contact with residents in the blocks and developments affected to keep them up to date on progress.

If you have any concerns, questions, or complaints about the safety of your home, please contact us by calling 0300 123 9966 or emailing ask@onehousing.co.uk. Please put “Building safety” in the subject line.

Importance of giving us access to carry out fire safety works

We know that fire safety is a critical concern for our residents.

We work closely with the fire and rescue services to make sure that our buildings and procedures meet all statutory requirements and regulations. We do this through regular inspections and assessments of shared areas, such as corridors and stairways, including completing a thorough fire risk assessment (FRA).

Sometimes we may write to you to request access to your property so we can carry out a survey or complete essential fire safety works. This is very important for the safety of the whole building.

If you are a tenant, please note that due to our legal obligations you must, under the terms of your tenancy, allow us access to carry out these essential works. If you don’t, this may be considered a breach of your tenancy agreement and we would need to take legal action to gain access to carry out these essential works.

Fire safety is a shared responsibility between us and you. Please visit our fire safety page for more information on what you can do to protect yourself and your home. Alternatively, visit your local fire service website for more information.

If you notice any problems with any fire safety features in your block, such as communal fire doors no longer closing or things being stored in corridors or staircases, please call 0300 123 9966 or email ask@onehousing.co.uk. Please include “Fire Safety” in the subject line.