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Issues with cracks raised at Broadwater Farm blocks three years ago, FOIA response reveals
Concerns were raised by experts over cracks in the buildings of the Broadwater Farm Estate three years ago, Inside Housing can reveal.
The estate in north London is made up of 12 large panel system blocks. In August last year, the government asked building owners to investigate large panels blocks following safety concerns at an estate in Southwark.
Homes for Haringey, which manages Haringey’s council housing, carried out physical checks revealing structural issues with two towers on Broadwater Farm.
Haringey Council has now told residents in the six-storey Tangmere block that they must evacuate the building immediately last week, making it the latest in a run of similar towers to have structural issues discovered which make it too unsafe for residents to remain.
However a report from 2015, released to Inside Housing in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, shows surveyors flagged issues with cracks that should be dealt with “in the short term” in the Martlesham block.
Despite this warning, a spokesperson for Homes for Haringey said this work was only being carried out this year, three years after the assessment was carried out.
The report does not say who carried out the survey of the blocks.
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In the estate’s two high-rise blocks, Kenley and Northolt, the report said “traditional reinforcement could not be readily determined”, but tie rods were in place between the panels.
Residents in the 18-storey Northolt block must also move out, but because the block does not have a gas supply the council has said there is “not the same urgency” to rehouse the residents. A report to the council’s cabinet last week said Northolt did not meet the required standard to resist an explosion, even without a gas supply. However, it said Kenley “has passed the required tests”.
However, the report shows concerns were flagged three years ago. In the medium-rise Martlesham block, cracking was noticed in the precast wall joints in two stairwells. The report said: “On investigation of the joint it was found that the tie bars between the precast panels and associated fixings have corroded allowing the panels to move slightly. It is recommended that these are repaired in the short term and that further investigation works are carried out to the block to ensure that this is localised to the stair cores only.”
Steel angles had been added in Northolt, but not in Kenley. The report said: “The current assumption is that these were retrofitted to Northolt in order to provide redundancy to meet progressive collapse requirements. It is unclear why this was not carried out on Kenley.”
However, a Homes for Haringey spokesperson said a recent structural survey had confirmed that steel angles were not necessary in Kenley.
Safety issues with large-panel blocks date back to the 1960s when four people were killed in the partial collapse of Ronan Point in east London.
Residents were evacuated from the Ledbury Estate in south London last year, after it was found to have a gas supply despite no strengthening work being carried out, meaning the four high-rise blocks had been at risk from a gas explosion for nearly 40 years.
In Rugby residents in two large panel system blocks have been told they must move out because of structural safety concerns.
A spokesperson for Homes for Haringey said: "The 2015 risk assessment report was commissioned to help Homes for Haringey prioritise future investment in its non-traditional construction stock. It is not a full structural survey report. All the short-term repairs identified through the risk assessment report are expected to be completed in this year’s capital programme. This includes work to repair the cracks to Martlesham."
She added: “In 2017, Homes for Haringey commissioned detailed structural surveys on Broadwater Farm that included Kenley and Northolt. Records indicate that Kenley and Northolt were built to different standards, meaning the steel angels installed in Northolt after construction were not needed in Kenley. The most recent structural survey confirms that the design of Kenley is different to Northolt and the steel angles were not needed.”
