Building Safety Update

Introduction from Chyrel Brown, Chief Operating Officer

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

Since the dreadful tragedy of the Grenfell fire, the Government has issued a series of advice notes and is updating legislation to ensure that the buildings we live in are safe and remain so.

I know that some of you will have been concerned about safety and the potential of escalating fire remediation costs and our commitment is to ensure we keep you as well informed as possible. I know also that some of you may have been unable to sell your home at this stage without the necessary certification, an EWS1, confirming that your home meets the necessary standards.

We have invested in our fire safety programme and also have a programme of work underway to remedy or rectify defects that have arisen. We have set aside over £200million for building safety works and to date we have invested £27.3million.

Our promise to you, is to keep you updated on a regular basis - every three months. However, if you do not wish to receive these updates, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter. If there is a specific update related to your block you will receive an update by letter and via your notice board. We are also holding a range of residents’ meetings where work is planned or underway.    

Update on Government legislation

Getting ready for the Building Safety Bill

We are preparing ourselves for when the Bill becomes law. We have increased our building safety team and have a dedicated team dealing with concerns, questions, or any complaints you may have about the safety of your home.

The Building Safety Bill was published in July to ensure the safety of new and existing homes across the UK.  It has had its second reading in the House of Commons and is now being reviewed at the Committee stage.

The Bill will: 

• ensure that there will always be someone responsible, called the ‘Accountable Person’, to keep residents safe in high rise buildings (18 metres and above) 
• ensure residents have more say in the management of the building – the Accountable Person will have to listen and respond to residents’ concerns and ensure their voices are heard 
• give residents and leaseholders access to important safety information about their building 
• create a new national Independent Regulator for Building Safety to ensure that the Accountable Persons are properly carrying out their duties  
• introduce new complaints handling requirements so residents can easily raise their concerns.

If you have any questions about the safety of your building, you can contact our team by calling 0300 123 9966 or emailing ask@onehousing.co.uk.

Update on our work at One Housing

Fire safety update

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

In April, the Fire Safety Act 2021 came into force to provide better clarification on responsibilities and improve fire safety in blocks of flats. It includes a requirement for external walls, balconies and flat entrance doors to be part of the regular fire risk assessments carried out by building owners. It has also clarified that it covers any building containing two or more ‘domestic premises’.

We are working hard to manage fire risk in our buildings so you can feel safe in your home. Last year we appointed Savills as our sole provider of fire risk assessments (FRAs) and implemented a system called RiskHub to better manage any actions that were required from the assessments. This process has worked very well, and we are proud to be 100% compliant – this covers all blocks with communal areas under One Housing’s responsibility.

Fire safety is a shared responsibility between us and you. There are things that you can do to reduce the risk of fire. 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 are 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.

Providing EWS1 forms to help Homeowners move on

We have an obligation to investigate the external wall systems (cladding, insulation, cavity barriers etc material) and the compliance of these materials and the way they have been installed on our buildings.

It takes an average of eight to twelve weeks from the survey until we get the written report.  Once completed, we share a summary report with the residents in the block/developments.

We have now issued 66 compliant EWS1 certificates for buildings, helping those that have been unable to sell, now do so.

We are taking a risk-based approach to conducting the testing of external wall systems and have removed ACM cladding from all our buildings. In total we have conducted 130 surveys and plan to carry out more as the year progresses.

In the summer, the Government announced that people buying flats in buildings lower than 18m in England will no longer have to provide safety details on external walls to get a mortgage. This followed new advice from fire safety experts who concluded that there is no systemic risk of fire in medium to low-rise blocks of flats. The results of their investigation showed that home fires were at an all-time low, while 91% occurred in houses, bungalows or converted flats.

If you are a homeowner or tenant, I hope this recent announcement provides reassurance that if you live in a lower rise block a EWS1 form is no longer needed when selling your home. Unfortunately, we have no jurisdiction over some lenders who are still asking for this form.

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.  As mentioned above, 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

Sometimes the intrusive surveys we carry out show that corrective work to the building’s external wall system, is required.

We currently have 11 remediation projects underway that cover 21 buildings. One of these is being completed by the original developer.

We are doing everything we can to ensure that we minimise the cost of any remediation works. We have made 28 Building Safety Fund applications to the Government to obtain the funds to carry out external wall system remediation work. Two applications have been approved and we are waiting on the final grant decision for three more with the remaining applications still going through the process.  Similarly, we are working with original developers on some blocks that have known defects in order to seek solutions.

We are in regular contact with residents in the blocks and developments affected to keep them up to date on progress and we will continue to keep residents up to date as soon as we hear any further news on the outcome of our application.