RSH publishes latest fire safety remediation report for English social housing
All social landlords are required to submit quarterly data on the fire safety remediation of relevant buildings for which they are responsible.
Today (19 December 2024) the Regulator of Social Housing published the findings from its latest survey on the fire safety of 11 metre plus buildings in the social housing sector.
Of the 17,516 relevant buildings reported, 99.2% had had fire risk assessments undertaken and 11.5% (2,009) were reported as having a life critical fire safety defect relating to the external wall system.
Landlords report that work is complete on 7.2% (144) of affected buildings (this includes those still awaiting building control sign off), an increase from 5.6% (108) in the previous quarter. Some landlords with multiple affected buildings have indicated they are prioritising works on higher risk buildings, which can be more complex and take longer to remediate.
69% of relevant buildings with a LCFS EWS defect are expected to be remediated within five years, including 10.4% that are due to be completed in the next six months.
In the MHCLG building-level survey, landlords were required to provide more specific dates for the status of remediation works in the quarter, including their commencement and completion. Some registered providers reported being unable to determine more precise dates and therefore chose to report ‘unknown’ timeframes in this quarter.
RSH will continue to monitor the performance of landlords in remediating 11 metre plus buildings and the progress they are making against their plans.
Boards and councillors must understand landlords’ legal obligations in relation to managing the safety of buildings and seek assurance that they are being met, and that any identified risks are being well managed and promptly remedied.
Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, said:
Fire safety continues to be a hugely important priority for the social housing sector. While the vast majority of buildings have no life critical fire safety defects, we are continuing to scrutinise progress closely for the minority that do.
We expect landlords to keep accurate data and rigorous systems in place to make sure tenants are safe - this includes any necessary mitigating measures to protect residents while works are completed.
“The collection and publication of this data is just one of a number of tools we use, alongside our programme of inspections and responsive engagement, to make sure landlords are meeting fire safety requirements.”
Notes to editors
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The data referred to in this publication was reported in the Q2 2024/2025 survey, which ran from 20 September to 21 October 2024, with data being reported as at 30 September 2024.
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Remediation work has started (but not yet completed) on 22.3% (448) of affected buildings, decreasing from 30.7% (594) in the previous quarter.
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29% (432) of landlords reported being responsible for at least one relevant building in this quarter. The majority of these were large landlords (those with 1,000 or more units).
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Work has already started or is complete on 41.1% of the 2,009 affected buildings however plans were missing or unclear for 590 buildings. Landlords have said previously that this is due to a range of factors including navigating complex legal arrangements with freeholders and leaseholders, difficulties sourcing contractors and supply chain delays.
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Life critical fire safety defects are defined as defects, shrinkages, faults or other failings in a building that give rise to fire safety risks identified by a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction or a fire risk assessment (or equivalent) undertaken to industry standards.
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We advise caution in interpreting data changes over time as they may be influenced, at least in part, by a change in the number of reported buildings and their assessment status at each quarter end.
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The government published its Remediation Acceleration Plan earlier this month which proposes new expectations of landlords in regard to when they will be expected to complete remediation or have plans in place depending on building height.
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