Plans for a national register of tower blocks in England, to include the date of the last fire risk assessment for each block, have been unveiled today by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA).
The social housing regulator’s national register will hold details on ownership, the number of properties, and the age of each block. It will also list the date of the last fire risk assessment and the date the next one is due.
The register will include all buildings of six storeys or more (excluding basements) that house social tenants. The TSA will begin collecting data from housing associations in February and the register is expected to be available in the summer.
“The health and safety of tenants is obviously of paramount importance to housing associations and their tenants," said Phil Morgan, the TSA's executive director of tenant services. "That is why the TSA is proposing to include health and safety in its new standards for social housing landlords, which come into force from April, and by developing a new national register of tower blocks.
“The register will be a valuable tool, allowing us to build up a comprehensive picture of tower blocks in England. It will allow us to work with landlords to ensure that they are fully complying with their responsibilities to carry out risk assessments and taking appropriate action, so that tenants are properly protected from the risk of fire.”
Following the fire at Lakanal House in Camberwell, the TSA wrote to all housing associations asking them to check the fire safety of their tower blocks. They were asked to inform the authority if they owned any housing with similar 'scissor block' design features which were of concern. The Communities and Local Government department (CLG) wrote to all local authorities asking for similar information.
Five housing associations have reported that they have a total of six blocks with a similar design to Lakanal. The associations are:
• Amicus Horizon
• Gentoo Sunderland
• South Yorkshire Housing Association
• Paragon Community Housing subsidiary - Richmond upon Thames Churches Housing Trust
• Whitefriars Housing Group
All five associations have responded with plans or action taken to address any fire safety issues. According to the TSA, all the associations have up-to-date fire risk assessments, and the tenants who live in the six blocks have been notified and will be kept informed. The TSA is continuing to work with the five landlords on the issues raised.
More information from the TSA
