Regulator urges councillors and boards in social housing sector to understand legal obligations around building safety

November 16, 2023

The Regulator of Social Housing has issued a report highlighting the responsibility of boards and councillors to understand social landlords’ legal obligations in relation to managing the safety of buildings, seek assurance that they are being met, and address identified issues promptly.

The comments came in a report containing the findings of the RSH’s survey on the fire safety of 11 metre plus buildings in the social housing sector.

All social landlords (including housing associations and local authorities) were asked to submit data to the Regulator and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the fire safety remediation of 11 metre plus buildings for which they are responsible.

According to the RSH, the results show:

Fire risk assessments have been undertaken on 98% of all buildings reported
The vast majority of social landlords have plans in place to address life critical fire safety defects identified across the relevant buildings
Remediation work is completed or due to be completed in the next five years for 71% of 11-18 metre buildings and 84% of 18 metre plus buildings assessed as having an external wall system related LCFS defect.

The RSH said it is following up with providers whose returns indicated that they may be an outlier on their progress in assessing or remediating the buildings they are responsible for.

Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, said: “Landlords must understand their buildings, manage them safely, and take timely action to remediate fire and other safety defects so their tenants are safe and can feel safe in their homes.

“We will continue to engage with providers to ensure this remains a high priority.”

LCFS 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.