To ensure better and more inclusive health outcomes, the TCPA has identified 12 Healthy Homes Principles that all new housing developments must provide. Each month, this blog series explores one of the principles
Healthy Homes Principle: Fire safety
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry published its final report on Wednesday 4 September, seven years after the Grenfell Tower fire on the night of 14 June 2017 which claimed 72 lives. The report explores the causes of the disaster, and details how the tower’s design, construction and management allowed the fire to spread so rapidly.
This report presents an important opportunity to renew the conversation about fire safety, a requirement that should be fundamental in all homes. The Grenfell tragedy has exposed a reactive approach to fire safety and a failure to listen to residents who raised safety concerns, highlighting the urgent need to proactively enforce regulations and condemn practices that prioritise profit over people’s lives.
Slow progress
While no one died in the recent tower block fire in Dagenham East London, where over 100 people were evacuated from a burning tower block with known safety issues, it was a stark reminder that progress in improving fire safety across England remains too slow and inadequate. Currently, there are still 1,300 buildings in London with fire safety issues. Out of the 4,600 buildings identified as having potentially unsafe cladding after Grenfell, only 50% have since undergone any work to begin replacing it. This is not an isolated issue. Government statistics show that in the year ending June 2022, over 40,000 fire incidents occurred in dwellings and other buildings, leading to 275 fire-related fatalities. These figures emphasise the critical need for homes to be built to high fire safety standards to prevent future tragedies.
What happened after Grenfell?
The Grenfell Tower fire prompted the introduction of reactive regulations to address some of the gaps in the fire safety regime, particularly regarding tall buildings, exterior cladding and emergency vehicle access. The Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduced stronger fire safety obligations for all buildings over 18 meters or seven stories with two or more dwellings. These regulations place new requirements on ‘responsible persons’, including building owners and managers, to help mitigate fire risks to residents. Additionally, guidance like ‘Planning Gateway One’ now requires planning applicants to produce a fire statement that includes details on emergency vehicle access and water supplies for firefighting.
What about homes that are out of scope?
However, the scope of regulations remains too limited, as they apply only to specific ‘high risk’ buildings, raising concerns for residential buildings below the height threshold of seven stories or 18 meters, or below 11 meters for fire safety checks.
Moreover, there is uncertainty regarding how the regulations apply when existing buildings, such as offices and warehouses, are converted to flats, under permitted development rights (PDR). For instance, since Planning Gateway One applies only within the full planning process, it does not clearly address new housing produced through PDR. It is also unclear whether PDR conversions require appraisal for the fire risks associated with cladding and exterior insulation, as PDR involves changes only to the interior of buildings.
Furthermore, fire authorities are not always aware of where conversions to residential use have taken place under PDR, making enforcement of fire regulations more problematic. The uncertainty regarding fire safety requirements for PDR residential buildings, leaves such homes more vulnerable to fire risks.
The need for equitable evacuation
Lessons from the Grenfell Tower tragedy also reveal significant inequalities in evacuation plans, as 15 of the 37 disabled residents died during the fire (41% of disabled residents). Many blocks of flats and residential buildings in the UK lack safe accessible escape routes for residents who cannot evacuate via stairs. This is partly due to conflicting or absent guidance on ensuring equitable fire safety in residential buildings. Neither the Approved Document B on fire safety nor the National Fire Chiefs Council provide clear instructions on how to evacuate residents who are unable to use stairs. This regulatory gap places people with disabilities at a much greater risk, particularly in high-rise buildings, which are already considered higher-risk environments. The Grenfell Tower Fire first phase report recommended the application of Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for disabled residents, and the new government has now announced they will provide additional funding to support social housing providers to deliver PEEPs in the next year (Inside Housing, 2024).
Growing climate risk of wildfires
As climate change leads to more frequent and intense heatwaves, vulnerabilities to wildfires will be further amplified increasing the risk of fire incidents, according to the 2022 UK Climate Change Risk Assessment and 2023 National Adaptation Programme. Communities at the rural to urban interface will face increased risks from wildfires, and many towns and cities are not adequately adapted to handle them. During the record-breaking heat of summer 2022, a fire in Wennington, a village on the London-Essex border, destroyed 37 buildings after it started in a back garden.
Homes destroyed by a wildfire in Wennington, during the 2022 heatwave (Photo: Harrison Healey, Wikipedia)
Greater attention is required to improve fire safety measures and public preparedness ahead of periods of extreme heat. Action must be taken to inform the public about potential fire risks during heatwaves and implement preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of such devastating incidents happening in the future. This issue also links to another of the Healthy Homes Principles, regarding ensuring all homes are climate resilient . We will be writing about this and the other principles in future blogs.
Ensuring all new homes are safe in risk of fire is one of the 12 core principles of the Campaign for Healthy Homes.
You can show your support for these principles by signing the Healthy Homes Pledge and support our campaign for a comprehensive Healthy Homes Bill.
Further resources
- Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report – Executive Summary
- Permitted development, housing and health: a review of national policy and regulations – Town and Country Planning Association (tcpa.org.uk)
- PAS 8672:2022 Competence of Principal Contractors | BSI (bsigroup.com)
- CIOB & RIBA guide on high-risk elements of buildings | CIOB
Clémence Dye – Projects and policy assistant, TCPA
