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Fire safety concerns flagged by regulator in 60% of England’s proposed high rises

A national regulator called for the rejection of a dozen high-rise proposals over fire safety concerns and flagged issues in hundreds more, Inside Housing can reveal.

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A national regulator called for the rejection of a dozen high-rise proposals over fire safety concerns and flagged issues in hundreds more, Inside Housing can reveal #UKhousing

Casework data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveals that the watchdog raised concerns over 349 separate high-rise planning applications in England.

The HSE became a statutory consultee on all residential and student accommodation buildings above 18m in August 2021, as part of a stricter building safety regime brought in post-Grenfell.

The data shows that in the period from then until October 2022, 567 tall buildings were assessed under the new checkpoint process, which is called ‘planning gateway one’.

Of these, concerns were flagged in 60% (349) of all planning applications and only 224 were marked as “content” or “no comment”.

In the group of buildings the HSE was concerned about, the data shows it had “significant concern” in more than 118 of these proposals and raised “some concern” over 231 buildings.

The FOI data reveals that there were 12 responses where the regulator advised the local planning authority to reject the scheme.

Mark Wilson, operational lead for policy and planning gateway one at the HSE, said the FOI data revealed some “poor design standards” and the majority of concerns raised were over high-rise buildings with one staircase.

Before Christmas, the government announced plans to consult on new rules requiring a second staircase in all buildings taller than 30m.


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Mr Wilson added: “Typically, those concerns related to issues such as connections between a single stair and areas of higher fire risk such as covered carparks, basements and ancillary uses such as refuse stores and plant rooms.”

The data reveals issues with buildings across the country but found that London had by far the most projects causing concern for the watchdog, with 180 flagged up.

Tower Hamlets in east London, home to clusters of new towers, was one of the worst-affected areas, with 28 planning applications flagged. Greenwich and Southwark both had 16.

Outside London, there were 27 high rises flagged as unsafe in Leeds, 10 in Birmingham, 11 in Manchester and 10 in Sheffield.

In many cases the HSE submitted multiple responses to flagged planning applications, with the regulator responding seven times to one development in Leeds.

Westminster Council threw out plans for changes to a previously consented eight-storey co-living tower in Battersea after the HSE raised fears that its single staircase connecting to a basement was a fire risk.

In its reasons for refusal, the planning authority said that the developer had “failed to demonstrate an adequate level of fire safety for the future users and occupants of the proposed development”.

The data also shows some developers that redesigned or made the required changes to their designs and later secured a “content” response from the HSE.

In the case of one 23-storey student accommodation block in Southwark, south London, the HSE recommended refusal after the developer failed to address concerns over the vulnerability of its single stair design.

However, the developer eventually redesigned the scheme in October 2022 to include a second stair. This scheme is still pending approval, but the HSE’s most recent response states that it is “content” with its design.

Another mixed-use development proposal in west London, which features a 20-storey and a nine-storey tower, was also redesigned to satisfy the HSE’s concerns, with a second stair added into the lower floors.

Planning gateway one is one of three new checkpoints that developers will have to pass under a tougher new safety regime, and aims to add extra layers of scrutiny over site layout, safe escape routes and safe access for firefighters.

In addition to introducing the HSE as a consultee, gateway one requires developers to submit fire statements outlining details of fire safety design principles, as well as how these apply to the development.

Each gateway stage will eventually be signed off by the new Building Safety Regulator, which is currently running in shadow form under the HSE and is expected to receive its full powers next year.

Mr Wilson said that while the planning gateway one casework revealed poor design, these have “usually been improved by the applicants in response to the concerns raised by HSE”.

Since the introduction of the new process there had been a “period of adjustment” for the industry, Mr Wilson said, and the sector is now gaining a better understanding of what a more stringent regime looks like.

“HSE appreciates the support of industry and in particular local authorities in implementing the new building safety regime and the Building Safety Regulator”, he added.

The HSE said the data issued under the FOI was “management information” rather than official statistics, as the emerging Building Safety Regulator is currently in the process of designing a more advanced document management system.

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