October 8, 2024
Government seeks resident feedback on cladding and fire safety issues
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) is calling for residents of buildings with cladding and fire safety issues to share their experiences via a new feedback form. It forms part of research being conducted by the government department to explore residents’ experiences of fire safety and fire safety works in the building where they live.
As MHCLG states: “The fire at Grenfell Tower led to the uncovering of issues with the external walls and cladding for other buildings, which could make them unsafe in the event of a fire.
“If your building has had issues with its fire safety due to its external wall cladding or other fire safety defects, then we want to hear from you.”
Part of MHCLG’s research involves uncovering the impact such fire safety issues have had on the lives of residents, with questions centring on whether residents are aware of issues with the external walls of their building, whether they were given information (including copies of documentation) about works being undertaken, and their views on why specific fire safety works were chosen.
MHCLG continues: “In the following feedback form, we want to know about your experiences of the process for your building having or preparing for having its external wall cladding or other fire safety defects fixed or mitigated (often referred to as remediation), whether they have been good or bad.
“We want to ensure we listen to how fire safety issues and works to address them are impacting everyone, supporting our drive to improve how we are making buildings safe”.
While the form can be filled in anonymously, residents have the option to provide additional information if they wish to do so. This includes details on who has or is paying for the cladding removal or other fire safety works; who owns the building and who manages it; the cost of the service charge, how much of this goes towards buildings insurance, and whether this has changed; and how many floors the building has including the ground floor.
Earlier this month, Rushanara Ali MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Building Safety and Homelessness, led a debate on building safety and resilience in the House of Commons. It was held in light of the long-awaited Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report published on 4 September 2024. As previously reported by the FPA, Ali stated that the Inquiry report revealed a building safety system that was “fundamentally broken” and that the “pace of remediation has been too slow”.
“We will ensure that dangerous buildings are found and dealt with. The money is there. The speed must increase. We are not leaving this task just to regulators; the Government must do more, and this Government will do so,” Ali said.
More information about the resident feedback form can be found here.
FPA
September 2024
