You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Council warns £93m fire safety bill will force cutbacks on basic repairs
A council has warned that it will be forced to cut spending on maintaining its housing stock unless the government helps it with an estimated £93m of fire safety work.
Birmingham City Council, which has 10% of the country’s publicly owned high-rise blocks, issued the warning following a report on fire safety presented to its cabinet this week.
Despite repeated efforts asking the government for money to help with fire safety works, the council said ministers had failed to help.
“We simply cannot afford to continue to put in place adequate safety measures and maintain current levels of necessary repairs,” said Sharon Thompson, cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods.
“We need support from government,” she added.
READ MORE
The council, which has the largest housing stock of any local authority in the country with around 62,000 homes, said across its portfolio the replacement of windows, roofs, kitchens, bathrooms, door entry systems, electrics and gas central heating will be “impacted” as more money is spent on fire safety.
Two months after the Grenfell Tower fire, then-housing minister Alok Sharma admitted that 28 councils had contacted the government asking for financial support.
A year ago, the government began releasing money from a £400m fund, but this is only available to councils and housing associations with building wrapped in aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. A separate £200m government fund for privately owned blocks with ACM cladding was unveiled in May.
Birmingham Council owns 213 high-rise blocks, but none have the ACM cladding similar to that used on Grenfell Tower, the report said.
As a result of government measures off the back of proposals in the Hackitt Review and the publication of Advice Note 14, the council said it is looking at widespread fire safety measures. This includes spending £31m on sprinklers and around £28m on replacement balcony and window infill sections. The council started retrofitting sprinklers last year, despite the move being initially blocked.
The local authority is also expecting to spend £34m on fire doors, if regulations change.
The first part of the Grenfell Inquiry report this week recommended an urgent inspection of fire doors in all buildings, regardless of whether they are high rise. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the judge leading the inquiry, also recommended owners should check doors every three months to ensure self-closing devices are working.
On sprinklers, he said they had a “very effective part to play” but stopped short of recommending them for all high rises until he has heard more evidence in phase two of the inquiry.
Last year, councils across London said they had spent a collective total of £100m on safety measures since the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Croydon Council reportedly said it has reduced refurbishment work to pay for sprinklers.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.
