Fury Over Fire Safety…and for good reason
My fury over fire safety is increasing a thousand fold. The terrible events at Grenfell Tower last week should not have happened. A tower block going up in flames so quickly, without compartmentalised common parts stopping it spreading and no fire safety apparatus available to get ALL residents out quickly. The worst is that the Landlord claims to have had a fire risk assessment and then hadn’t acted on the advice given. What’s more the residents had also campaigned to have better fire safety precautions made a priority.
The residents of Grenfell Tower had campaigned to have better fire safety precautions made a priority
It seems that LAZINESS on the part of the landlord has caused this. The thought that it might be time consuming, excess money being spent, residents might not play ball, may all be contributory factors to why this hasn’t been done.
Yet is this OK? NO. It’s never OK to put anything above someone’s life and this is what the landlord has done here! That’s the most shocking thing, it’s truly horrific and as I watched the terrible scenes I was in absolute disbelief.
Yet, it doesn’t stop with this landlord. Landlords across the country are taking the same stance, not seeing the benefit of making sure there are adequate fire safety systems. I’m dealing with it at an apartment I own. The Freeholder doesn’t think it’s necessary to have the ground floor shops, or the neighbouring building who shares our common parts, attached to the same fire alarm panel as our flats upstairs. However, should there be a fire in either the ground floor shops or the neighbouring building then my tenants and the other two flats won’t know about it until it’s too late.
A shared fire alarm panel that is shared with a commercial building and a residential one above could save lives
I’m prepared to spend the money on adequate fire safety and will keep pressing the freeholder until it’s done. I’ve told them what will happen if they don’t link all the fire alarm panels and they are now delaying a response… my next move environmental health and the local fire brigade. I won’t stop until I’m 100% sure that my tenants are always safe and have an escape route in an emergency.
As landlords this is something we should be doing across the board. Fire risk assessments yearly (or after any changes to the building) are a must and then you must follow the recommendations that are provided NO MATTER THE COST. As I’ve said before LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY.
And fire risk assessments are cheap, £150 tops and if you are a leaseholder than your freeholder will do it and split the costs as per the service charge.
After seeing the horrendous aftermath of the Grenfell Tower incident there is no longer an excuse not to do something. You have a duty of care to your tenants so act on it. If you don’t know what to do in your area, ask the fire brigade, as environmental health. Read the regulatory reform fire safety order 2005, or the local fire safety legislation for your country.
Go do it, don’t sit on it otherwise it’s your responsibility if something goes wrong.
Go do it, don’t sit on it otherwise it’s your responsibility if something goes wrong.
We have to stand-up as landlords and keep our tenants safe. Do everything you possibly can to fire proof your property inline with government guidance and then produce a guide for your tenants on how to act in the event of an emergency. Contact me [email protected] if you need help writing this or find me on www.ncrealestate.co.uk.
We all need to take a stand, this type of horror should NEVER have a reoccurrence and we need to make sure that we do as best we possibly can to prevent it.
NC
My thoughts and prayers and love are with all the friends and family of all those people affected by this. I promise to continue to teach landlords how to look after their properties properly to make sure that these events become a thing of the past.
