Morning Briefing: fire chief calls for sprinklers in tower blocks

In the news

In an interview with the BBC Dany Cotton, the capital’s fire chief, said the devastating blaze must be a “turning point”.

A Freedom of Information Act investigation by BBC Breakfast found just 2% of social housing tower blocks have full sprinkler systems.

More than two-thirds – 68% – of these buildings have just one staircase for evacuation.

Inside Housing carried out a similar survey of the UK’s tower blocks back in 2015.

Also this morning, the National Audit Office has said a 60% rise in homelessness since 2010/11 is “likely to have been driven” by welfare reforms, according to the BBC.

A report by the spending watchdog accused the government of having a “light touch approach” to dealing with the problem.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that a study by the Centre for Responsible Credit has found that nearly two-thirds of English councils have closed or stripped back “welfare assistance schemes” introduced to support low-income families.

The paper also has a story claiming that the government is planning to offer city councils £3m for green projects such as solar panels on social housing.

It comes after a renewable energy provider told Inside Housing it would seek to become independent of Westminster subsidies within two years as it plans to install 800,000 solar panels by 2022.