‘Biggest Changes To Building Safety In A Generation’

The government has published its response to ‘Building a Safer Future’, the consultation it launched in June 2019 seeking views on proposed changes to the building safety system. These are based on recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, and include the establishment of a new Building Safety Regulator via the Health and Safety Executive, as announced in January. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said that an initial update would be published in May to implement a number of the new measures concerning high-rise flats. All new blocks of flats taller than 11m will require wayfinding signage and sprinkler systems. Read more on Social Housing.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/news/biggest-changes-to-building-safety-in-a-generation-as-government-publishes-suite-of-measures-65953

Hackitt ‘Concerned’ Grenfell Recommendations Will Fall Away

Dame Judith Hackitt has said she is worried “we will not respond appropriately to change this broken system of ours”. Speaking at a seminar on fire safety, she said: “Despite the fact the Review is complete and the recommendations are being implemented – all of them – I’m delighted to say by the government, I think it’s really important we keep this dialogue going because the longer we go post-Grenfell, the more concerned I become that we will allow this to fall away and we will not respond appropriately to change this broken system of ours. “We must rebuild the trust that residents, and the public more generally, no longer have in us and in the system to provide them with somewhere safe to live.” Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/hackitt-concerned-grenfell-recommendations-will-fall-away/

Government To Implement Hackitt Review In Full

The MHCLG has confirmed it will take forward all of the recommendations to “create a stronger and more effective regulatory framework” which would improve building safety standards across the country. In May, Dame Judith published her much-anticipated Building a Safer Future review which called for an overhaul of regulatory regime for tower blocks. The report said that current building regulations were “not fit for purpose” and put forward a number of recommendations, including the creation of a new joint competent authority to oversee better management of safety risk in buildings. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/government-to-implement-hackitt-review-in-full-59564?utm_source=Ocean%20Media%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10142889_IH-DAILY-19-12-2018-GR&dm_i=1HH2,61EAX,8CKJV9,NOMRE,1

Hackitt Review Update: Government Commits to Major Building Safety Reforms

As a part of a vision to set out a more robust regulatory future for the construction and private rented sector, the government has committed to:

·         launching a consultation on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings

·         banning desktop studies if the current consultation does not demonstrate that they can be safely used

·         ensuring residents have a better mechanism for blowing the whistle on landlords who do not maintain safe buildings

·         changing the law to achieve meaningful and lasting reform of the building regulatory system

·         inviting views on how the government could implement reform of the regulatory system

·         restructuring building regulations fire safety guidance to ensure it is clear

Read more on the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/hackitt-review-update-government-commits-major-building-safety-reforms