A free government-funded webinar on 19 December 2022 will update councils and housing directors on their responsibilities as landlords to comply with the new building safety regime, the Fire Safety Act and new fire safety regulations arriving in January.

Speakers from the Health and Safety Executive, the Home Office and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) will be available to answer questions.

When the provisions of the Fire Safety Act began to come into force earlier this year, it was confirmed that external wall (cladding) systems and fire doors are covered by the Fire Safety Order. This means that landlords must review fire risk assessments and prepare for a number of new fire safety regulations that commence in January 2023, adding further obligations to their role.

The Act gives local authorities and their ALMOs a year, until spring 2024, to complete safety cases and registration of all high-rise residential blocks.

In an NFA webinar earlier this year, NFA members shared their experiences of improving fire safety for high-rise residents, now published on our Viewpoint page.

In addition to extensive compartmentalisation works, South Essex Homes are trialling a communications system that makes it possible for fire fighters to speak directly to tenants, either to the whole building or to specific zones and floors. 

Your Homes Newcastle have made the involvement of tenants a key focus of their safety case work for each of their residential blocks, and have completed this well ahead of the legislative deadline.

“From the start, we have supported the Regulator of Social Housing’s view that social housing landlords should not be waiting for legislation,” said NFA Policy Director Chloe Fletcher.

“It has been heartening to see so many of our members acting early to do everything possible to improve building and fire safety in their high-rise stock – but we all know that there’s always something more to learn. This new webinar from the LGA will be extremely useful and timely for all ALMOs and local authority landlords, given the challenges that face the sector in 2023.”