Showing posts with label Grenfell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grenfell. Show all posts

Saturday, 21 December 2024

Another South Kilburn disaster revealed - £15m claim on Swift House and George House goes to mediation

 

Before remediation work above and remediation work in progress below

 

 

A plaque amongst the remediation materials

Construction News LINK reports on another building disaster in South Kilburn. London and Quadrant (L&Q) had made a £15m claim against Bouygues UK and this will now go to mediation.

Swift House and George House in Albert Road were built by Denne Construction in 2010-11 at a cost of £35m.  Bouygues took over Denne's liabilities when it acquired the company in 2016.

Denne were also responsible for Bourne Place in South Kilburn.


Construction News reports L&Q's claim that both buildings (Swift House and George House) with a total of 286 flats and maisonettes were 'defective and dangerous' including use of the aluminium composite material (ACM) exposed by the Grenfell fire,

L & Q said that after they removed the cladding in September 2018 they found a number of other fire safety and structural issues including 'inadequately specified and wrongly installed insulation' that would have  allowed fire and smoke to penetrate the buildings. 

They also found over-stressing and movement of the cladding support frames across both buildings.

Construction News gives a full account in its story LINK.

As with Grenfell, residents have raised issues about the quality of building on South Kilburn over the last few years LINK, and Wembley Matters published an overview in May this year LINK.

Readers will recall the case of Granville New Homes purchased from the developer by Brent Council and cost more than the purchase price in remediation works LINK . The council had argued that it was not possible to get compensation for the defects but reportedly a claim may now be in prospect.

This now comes under the remit  of Muhammed Butt, who as well as being Council Leader  is also Cabinet Lead for Housing, Regeneration, Planning and Growth.

A South Kilburn resident, reacting to the latest debacle said:

Yet another example of shoddy building work being done during the regeneration of South Kilburn, A fact that Brent Council denies, instead repeatedly talking about the awards given by planners and architects to planners and architects for their brilliant work. I wonder how much compensation the builders are intending to pass to residents who have had to live with scaffolding blocking out their light for many years as well as the fear that goes with living in buildings which could go up like the Grenfell tower.


 


Sunday, 16 June 2024

Brent Cabinet to approve draft Tenant and Leaseholder Strategy tomorrow. Does it do the job?

 In September 2023, in a public question, I asked Cllr Promise Knight about Brent Council's actions over safety in its tall buildings post Grenfell and in the light of the Building Safety Act. It was important given what was emerging at the Grenfell Inquiry that tenants and leaseholders be fully involved.

Cllr Knight's Answer: LINK


 Photo: SkyNews.com

A further issue that emerged is that of the health dangers of damp and mould following the death of two year-old Awaab Ishak. LINK  Wembley Matters has written about damp and mould in Brent Council properties on the South Kilburn Estate LINK and Landau House, Kilburn LINK.

Tomorrow the Brent Cabinet will consider a draft Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement Strategy aimed at enabling tenants and leaseholders to challenge the Council on these issues in order to prevent another disaster.

The full Cabinet papers can be found HERE and the meeting is at 10am on Monday morning. They set out a series of arrangements and commitments:

 

Every person who rents or owns a home from the Council is important and should have a say in how their home is managed. This document explains how the Council will listen to what you think about living in your home and make changes based on your feedback.

By talking to you and others, the Council will improve services like fixing your home, keeping shared spaces clean, managing your lease, collecting rent, and making sure you are safe.

This document doesn’t talk about every service the Council provides, but any useful feedback will always be shared with the right people.

Events like the fire at Grenfell Tower show that listening to you is the only way we can be a good landlord. Over the next four years, we will work to rebuild our relationship with you, so you feel heard. We will also show you how your feedback has been used to make decisions.

We will be honest and open with information and improve how we communicate with you. This document supports the Council's plan to help everyone in Brent move forward together.

 

OUR COMMITMENTS

1. Commitment One: We have a culture that respects engagement & make changes using your feedback.

How we will do this:

o We will offer various ways for you to get involved and share feedback. o Achieve the National Engagement Standard set by the tenant  engagement support organisation, TPAS.


o Make sure our contractors (repairs) also offer ways you can get involved.

o We will train all new housing staff on engagement and refresh this  training annually.


o We will establish a tenant and leaseholder committee to hold the  Council accountable.

 

2. Commitment 2 – We will learn from your feedback.

How we will do this:

o We will regularly review feedback and complaints to spot areas for improvement.

o Share learning with housing staff and change our practice using this information.

o Host events each year so you can meet with housing staff and report any issues.

o We will use data to identify neighbourhood priorities and engage with specific estates to understand issues.

 

3. Commitment 3 – We will challenge stigma and make sure you feel included.

How we will do this:

o We will work with you to address any stigma and raise awareness among staff and contractors.

o We will ensure communication is respectful and inclusive.


o Offer training to all housing staff on challenging stigma and stereotypes  about people who live in social housing.


o Make community spaces places you feel safe no matter your age,  gender, sexuality, religion, ability, race & ethnicity.

 

4. Commitment 4 – We will make sure you influence decisions about the service we provide.

How we will do this:

o We will involve you in decision-making at both the neighbourhood and strategic levels.

o We will compensate you for your time and ensure you are part of assessing bidders and renewing contracts.

o We will work with you if you live in a high-rise block, so you feel safe and have a say on any work we need to carry out.

o Make sure your housing officer regularly inspects your block or estate and invites you and your neighbours to join them.

o Provide you with regular updates on changes to our service and how your feedback has been used.

 

5. Commitment 5 - We will be transparent with you and provide information so you can challenge us.

How we will do this:

o We will regularly share information with you using various channels about our performance.

o We will share the results of any consultation or engagement activity we carry out.

o We will meet with Resident Association representatives every two months (minimum) and present how we have delivered this strategy.

o We will support you in scrutinizing services and presenting findings to senior managers.

 

6. Commitment 6 – We will work with you to make a positive contribution to where you live.

How we will do this:

o We will promote opportunities for you to get involved in community activities.

o We will review community spaces to ensure they are used effectively and safely.

o Help you and your neighbours to apply for funding to run events and activities on your estate or in your community.

o Work with you and our partners like the Police on problems like anti- social behaviour and crime.

By working together, we aim to create a better living environment for everyone.

 

Keeping Our Homes Safe: A Plan from Brent Council

 

What’s Our Plan?

 

We want to make sure everyone living in our tall buildings is safe. We have a new

safety plan to help with this. The plan follows new rules introduced by Government

under the Building Safety Act 2022.

 

Why Do We Need This Plan?

 

There’s a new rule that says we must keep tall buildings very safe. Tall buildings are buildings that are 18 metres OR seven floors high and taller. We need to talk to the

people living there to find out how to keep them safe and keep them updated with

our plans for the building.

 

What Will We Do?

 

1. Sharing Information: We will tell everyone about important safety information.

2. Listening to You: We will ask for your thoughts and make sure we listen.

3. Checking on Safety: We will see if what we’re doing is working well.

 

Who’s in Charge?

 

Brent Council is in charge of making sure that the tall buildings it owns is safe for the people who live in them. We have specific people in charge of doing this:

 

 Senior Managers

 Safety Officers

 Housing Officers

 People who talk to residents

 

If you have any worries about safety in your home, you can email us at

BHMBuildingSafety@brent.gov.uk

 

Knowing Who Lives in Our Buildings

 

We need to know everyone living in our tall buildings, especially if someone needs help during an emergency. We will ask everyone once a year who lives in their home and if anyone needs special help. This helps the firefighters know who to help first.

 

Some examples include:

 

 If you have trouble walking or climbing stairs by yourself

 If you have poor eyesight or hearing

 

How We Will Share Information With You

 

We will use different ways to give you information:

 

 Letters to your home

 Posters in your building

 Information on our website

 

Every year, we will have a meeting about your building to talk about safety. You can ask questions and learn about any changes we are making at this meeting. We will publish dates of meetings on our website and contact you beforehand so you know when and where the meeting will be.

 

Asking for Your Opinions

 

We will ask what you think about:

 Big changes to your building and how that can affect you.

 Safety checks and repairs.

 Telling us about any new problems you have noticed.

 New safety rules.

 

Checking Our Plan

 

We will look at our plan every year to make sure it’s working. We will ask for your help to make it better.

 



Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Have you attended any of Brent Council's Building Safety Residents' Engagement Meetings? Any comments?

 I asked Brent Council abour progress on a Residents Engagement Strategy which is part of the post-Grenfell Building Safety Act, much of which came into force on April 1st 2024.

This is their response:

I can confirm that last October the Council launched its Building Safety Engagement Strategy with all those living in a high-risk buildings. To do this, the Council followed the Government Guidance for developing a strategy https://www.gov.uk/guidance/preparing-a-resident-engagement-strategy#after-you-have-prepared-your-strategy consulting with those living in these blocks and providing a copy to every household.

 

We are pleased to report that since October 2023 we have been hosting the first series of Building Safety Engagement meetings.

The 1st April deadline is not specific to the Engagement Strategy (please see the section within the Acthttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30/part/4/crossheading/engagement-with-residents-etc/enacted),  but a requirement for implementing the Building Safety Act (2022) such as registering high-risk buildings.

 

For your information, our working strategy can be found here https://www.brent.gov.uk/housing/tenant-services/health-and-safety-in-the-home#[buildingsafetyact.

 

A review following 6 months of piloting the strategy is scheduled and will go to Cabinet as part of a wider update on the Council’s overarching approach to engaging with Council Tenant and Leaseholders.

My conclusion from  this response is that the Strategy is being consulted on but is not yet in place. I would be interested in comments from anyone who has attended these consultation meetinsg and the number of residents in attendance verus the number eligible to attend.

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

Kilburn tower block fire shows the necessity for Brent Council to engage with tenants - contribute to the engagement strategy and make it REAL!

 

 

Yesterday I asked a supplementary question on the Building Safety Act following the written answers provided prior to the meeting LINK. I will leave readers to judge whether the question was answered. 

Coincidentally, a fire broke out on the 13th floor of the tower block in Kilburn Square as the Council Meeting went on and Kilburn councillors left the meeting to go to the scene.

Life in Kilburn tweeted that there had been previous warnings about fires in that particular flat and these had gone unheeded by Brent Council.

 


The Daily Mirror followed this up and published a full piece HERE.

Three people have now been arrested in connection with the fire.

 


 


 

In 2017 I wrote an article on Wembley Matters about how the Kensington and Chelsea Council tried to silence a local blog, the Grenfell Action Group that had written about their concerns over the risks at Grenfell LINK prior to the fire and deaths. If one major lesson has emerged it is that residents who actually live in the blocks should be listened to and councils should engage with them.

 

That is being implemented six years on through a Resident Engagement Strategy. The council have a legal duty to set up a Resident Engagement strategy for each of the 41 Brent high-rises, including Kilburn Square.

 

Each strategy will allow anyone living in each building to engage with the council in making any decisions on both fire safety and structural issues in each high-rise.

 

These Resident Engagement strategies come within The Building Safety Act with most of it coming into force on the 1st October 2023.

 

The council are currently holding a consultation into what each strategy should include and they want to hear from anyone who lives in any of the 41 buildings in scope.

 

The Consultation can be found HERE. Brent Council explains:

 

The Building Safety Act (2022) introduced new requirements for building owners to demonstrate their ability to identify and manage safety risks in the properties they have responsibility for.

The Act specifically requires landlords to establish an engagement strategy for 'higher risk buildings' (18m in height OR seven storeys or more and containing at least 2 flats) and the document attached is a proposed engagement strategy for the 41 'higher risk buildings' owned and managed by Brent Housing Management.

 

The strategy details:

  • What information will be provided to residents
  • What decisions they will be consulted on
  • How residents views will be taken into account; and

How the appropriateness of consultation undertaken will be measured

 

The draft strategy is embedded below:

 

 


Friday, 15 September 2023

Post-Grenfell crucial information for Brent Council tenants in buildings higher than 18 metres

In my capacity as a Brent resident I asked Brent Council a written question for Monday's meeting on the actions they have taken to comply with the Building Safety Act. This followed concerns expressed by tenants who suggested that Brent was lagging behind other London boroughs. It would be interesting to hear from tenants whether the answers allay their fears.

The questions and responses are below.

 

Question from Martin Francis to Councillor Promise Knight (Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness & Renters Security)

 

The following list of questions pertain to the Building Safety Act that received Royal Assent in April 2022 and the requirements for landlords, including local councils, therein. ‘Buildings in Scope’ refers to those buildings under the Building Safety Act, that are high-rise residential buildings that are 18 metres tall or higher, or at least seven storeys, with two or more residential units that are defined as ‘higher-risk’.

 

Across England there are approximately 12,500 of these buildings and the new regulator required all of them to be registered from April 2023, with a named person responsible for maintaining their safety. The registration process is a crucial stage in setting up the new building safety regime.  Registering buildings in scope will be a legal requirement and owners and managers who fail to comply by October 2023 will be investigated and may face prosecution.

 

On this basis, could the Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters Security address the following questions in relation to the Council responsibilities:

 

1.     Does the council know the details of the residents who cannot evacuate without help, or those whose first language is not English as part of any emergency arrangements in each of the 40 buildings in scope?

The council has previously undertaken work to proactively identify tenants living in our high-rise blocks who cannot evacuate without assistance in event of an emergency. The information the council received as part of this work is currently being reviewed. When tenants whose first language is not English are identified, the council records this and will make reasonable adjustments.

 

 

2.     Can you describe the details of the construction methods in each of the buildings in scope?

The construction method for each of the High Rise blocks is in the Fire Risks Assessment (FRA) for the property and is included in the Building Registration information provided to London Fire Brigade (LFB) and the Building Regulators. Furthermore, this information is contained in our asset database.

 

3.     Can you provide the access and means of escape, including travel distances, in all the buildings in scope?

The access points and means of escape are clearly set out in all of the buildings. Travel distances in the buildings complied with the Building Regulations current at the time the building was constructed. We also have wayfinding information conspicuously displayed in all our blocks that provide access and means of escape information as well as direction/fire escape routes out of the property.

 

4.     Can you identify all the Building Safety risks in each of the buildings in scope?

The Fire Risk Assessments for each building identifies all safety risks which are being actioned in the required timescales.

 

5.     Can you provide the maintenance and inspection schedules for every building in scope using The Golden Thread of information? LINK

All maintenance and inspection schedules/records are on our New Compliance asset compliance management database. All new build blocks in scope are following the Gateway process.

 

6.     Can you set out the emergency plan for each building in scope, including their evacuation strategy?

 All information in regard to emergency plan and strategy are provided as part of the building registration with LFB and the fire strategy for each block is displayed in the lobby area in each block.

 

 

7.     Please set out your complaints system and that how you will operate an effective mandatory occurrence reporting system?

The Council’s principal accountable person for our occupied higher-risk buildings is working on establishing and operating a suitable system for the investigation of relevant complaints. Mandatory occurrence reporting is designed to help report structural flaws and fire risks that might arise at any point throughout the life cycle of a building and can cause catastrophes.

 

We are working to develop a suitable system(s) that will cover the following requirements:

·             Introducing a more reliable reporting system that complements RIDDOR and voluntary occurrence reporting regimes.

·             Strengthening the golden thread (or the digitally stored collection of information about a building and its safety).

·             Boosting residents’ engagement to improve the accuracy and frequency of fire and structural risks.

 

 

 

8.     Are you now able to publish a risk assessment for each of the buildings in scope?

All our Fire Risks Assessments are available for each resident upon request

 

9.     Do all fire doors in every building in scope meet the full standard of fire prevention?

 We carry out quarterly inspections of all the communal doors as well as service cupboard doors in each block, and a yearly inspection of the flat entrance doors to ensure all doors meet the full standard of fire prevention. 

 

10.   Do you know if any of the buildings in scope have any structural issues and can you provide full details of the utilities they use and if any of them impact on common parts of the building, or evacuation plans? Does fire stopping meets the appropriate standard so that compartmentation is not compromised?

We have carried out FRA4 inspections on all of our buildings in scope and we have identified any structural defect or issue in our buildings and we are confident that the fire stoppings in all our High-Rise properties meet appropriate standards of compartmentation.

 

11.   Have you identified the 'responsible person' for each block? 

All our FRAs has the detail of the responsible person for each block.

 

 

 


Thursday, 3 August 2023

Is Brent Council able to meet all its obligations under the Building Safety Act by next month's deadline? Some questions.

 The Grenfell fire and the subsequent inquiry highlighted to role of local authorities in ensuring the safety of residents. The deadline is now the 29th of September 2023 for the council to meet all their obligations incorporated in  The Building Safety Act and more importantly  for tenants through The Fire Safety Order.

I missed the deadline for the last Questions to Brent Council and will be resubmitting them for the next Full Council but the urgency is such I am also publishing them here:

 

QUESTIONS TO BRENT COUNCIL

 

Q1-Do the council know the details of the residents who cannot evacuate without help, or those whose first language is not English as part of any emergency arrangements in each of the 40 buildings in scope?

 

Q2-Can you describe the details of the construction methods in each of the buildings in scope?  

 

Q3-Can you provide the access and means of escape, including travel distances, in all the buildings in scope?

 

Q4-Can you identify all the Building Safety risks in each of the buildings in scope?

 

Q5-Can you provide the maintenance and inspection schedules for every building in scope using The Golden Thread of information? LINK

 

Q6-Can you set out the emergency plan for each building in scope, including their evacuation strategy?

 

Q7 Please set out your complaints system and that how you will operate an effective mandatory occurrence reporting system?

 

Q8- Are you now able to publish a risk assessment for each of the buildings in scope?

 

Q9- Do all fire doors in every building in scope meet the full standard of fire prevention? 

 

Q10-Do you know if any of the buildings in scope have any structural issues and can you provide full details of the utilities they use and if any of them impact on common parts of the building, or evacuation plans? Does fire stopping meets the appropriate standard so that compartmentation is not compromised?

 

Q11- Have you identified the 'responsible person' for each block?

 

 

Some local councils appear to be ahead of Brent in terms of their public information on the  responsibilities of landlords including councils. This is from Tower Hamlets:

 

 





Monday, 19 June 2023

UPDATE VIA COMMENT: Letter: Brent Council are failing to implement post-Grenfell measures, New CEO could face prison if Brent Council has not registered all their buildings in time.

Dear Editor,

 

I first told you about 'Safety Cases' in 2021 when they were required for contractors presenting their new developments for planning but now it is a legal requirement for all of Brent's buildings in scope (7 storeys or higher) who must publish a safety case by the 1st October 2023.

 

Several commentators reported on the Grenfell anniversary last Wednesday that almost every landlord in England has not published their Safety Case yet and that includes Brent.

 

It can take between 2 to 3 months to assemble all the information needed to make a safety case and Brent will need to make one for all the 40 buildings that I know of.

 

Brent must also register all their buildings in scope and apply for a safety certificate by the 1st Oct. 2023.  

 

Are you aware that some Council employees could end up in prison if they fail to comply with all the requirements before the 1st October 2023?

 

The government said all landlords should publish a Resident Engagement Strategy 12 months after it became the law and many councils across London have published theirs, but Brent has not published anything yet.

 

The government also gave a 2 month extension to all landlords to set up their Resident Panels, which are now due to be implemented on the 28th June 2023 but once again Brent seem not to be doing anything about them.

 

London Politics show (BBC 1) had a story about Grenfell and mentioned all the recommendations that are due to come in over the next 3 months but Brent seems to not be aware of any of their responsibilities over this issue.

 

There is a budget available for Residents' Panels, with £1,300 p.a. being available for Residents' Associations to co-ordinate them.

 

But you probably have guessed by now, the government give the money to the council who in turn pass it on to the Residents' Associations to hold at least one meeting a year with a maximum of 4, to explain how to prevent fires & other hazards in their buildings.

 

A local resident

(Details submitted)