Building safety in London

The Mayor has called for leaseholders to be protected from the costs of remediating their unsafe building – regardless of the height of the building or the type of safety defect. He has urged the government to cover the full costs of interim safety measures. He has also called for a groundbreaking levy on major private developers that could raise £3 billion towards the costs of building remediation works.

Where he has the power to do so, the Mayor has taken several key steps to achieve higher safety standards in London’s buildings.

Although the responsibility to ensure homes are safe lies with the national Building Regulations, the Mayor has used his planning powers to go further and ensure fire safety is considered from the earliest design stage.

For the first time, the London Plan 2021 requires all development proposals to achieve the highest standards of fire safety to ensure the security of all building residents and users. The London Plan 2021 also introduces policy requirements for developments to be designed to incorporate fire evacuation lifts suitable for people who require level access, including those with disabilities and the elderly.

The Mayor has published pre-consultation London Plan Guidance to provide initial information on how to implement London Plan policy on fire safety.

The Mayor is using his influence to ensure that standards of fire safety in new buildings in London are higher than in the rest of the country. Procurement through the London Development Panel (LDP2) and delivery supported with funding from the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 – must now meet stringent building safety standards that go above and beyond the national Building Regulations. Other programmes must follow these standards as detailed in the relevant funding guidance.

The Mayor’s Building Safety Standards for new build development are as follows:

Standard 1.  All new buildings must include Automatic Water Fire Suppression Systems (AFSS).

Standard 2. The Building Regs 2010 (as amended) require control over combustible items in the external walls of relevant buildings. All new buildings/conversion, refurbishment or remodelling of existing buildings/acquisitions funded by the GLA should apply those combustibility restrictions regardless of their height. More specifically, external walls of all buildings (of any height) should contain only materials of Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1 in accordance with BS EN 13501-1:2007+A1:2009. Please note that in practice this means that buildings should adhere to Regulations 7(1), (2), and (3) of Approved Document B only. The definition of ‘relevant building’ detailed in Regulation 7(4) does not apply – all buildings without exception are considered ‘relevant buildings’ by the Mayor of London.

Standard 3. All new buildings to include water supplies for firefighting in accordance with Water UK’s national guidance document.

Standard 4. Developers must register any in-built electrical products such as white goods (doing so will pick up any recalls). Developers must also encourage residents to register any white goods which the residents themselves bring into their new homes.

Standard 5. Information about product registration, product recalls and electrical safety should be included in the resident’s pack/manual for all new homes. (This is in line with Total Recalls and NFCC/LFB electrical safety headline messages).

The Mayor’s Building Safety Standards for the conversion, refurbishment, remodelling or acquisition of existing homes are as follows:

Standard 2. The Building Regs 2010 (as amended) require control over combustible items in the external walls of relevant buildings. All new buildings/conversion, refurbishment or remodelling of existing buildings/acquisitions funded by the GLA should apply those combustibility restrictions regardless of their height. More specifically, external walls of all buildings (of any height) should contain only materials of Class A2-s1, d0 or Class A1 in accordance with BS EN 13501-1:2007+A1:2009. Please note that in practice this means that new buildings should adhere to Regulations 7(1), (2), and (3) of Approved Document B only. The definition of ‘relevant building’ detailed in Regulation 7(4) does not apply – all buildings without exception are considered ‘relevant buildings’ by the Mayor of London.

Standard 4. Developers must register any in-built electrical products such as white goods (doing so will pick up any recalls). Developers must also encourage residents to register any white goods which the residents themselves bring into their new homes.

Standard 5. Information about product registration, product recalls and electrical safety should be included in the resident’s pack/manual for all new homes. (This is in line with Total Recalls and NFCC/LFB electrical safety headline messages).

Standards 1 and 3 do not apply to conversion, refurbishment, remodelling or acquisition of existing homes supported with funding by the Mayor.

For homes delivered as conversion, refurbishment, remodelling or acquisitions, partners will be expected to undertake reasonable endeavours to assure themselves of the project’s compliance with Standard 2. They must document the steps taken in a Statement of Reasonable Endeavours, which is available here. The GLA reserves the right to review completed Statements through the annual compliance audit process.

GLA Housing and Land has published a best practice guidance document to support landlords and managing agents in responding to leaseholder requests for External Wall System 1 (EWS1) forms.

The EWS1 best practice guidance is intended to improve and standardise approaches to EWS1 across the London housing sector. It is expected to act as a critical point of reference for social landlords, private landlords, and managing agents to adequately support leaseholders in need of an EWS1 certificate to complete mortgage, lease and staircasing negotiations.

Over the past two years, increasing numbers of leaseholders have required External Wall System (EWS1) forms to negotiate mortgages or leases. In early 2021, GLA research found that standards in responding to and facilitating EWS1 requests vary considerably across landlords in London’s housing sector. The research also found that there were significant opportunities to improve how landlords responded to and managed leaseholders’ requests for EWS1 forms, principally around communications.

These findings prompted GLA Housing and Land to convene an EWS1 Task and Finish Working Group to identify best practice landlords could follow to improve the experience of leaseholders who needed EWS1 certificates for their buildings. The Task and Finish Group’s work has concluded with the publication of this EWS1 best practice guidance document, which has been informed by the experience of leaseholder groups, delivery partners and other key stakeholders in the housing sector.

The GLA is administering three government funding programmes to remediate London buildings with unsafe cladding:

• the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund
• the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund
• the Building Safety Fund for the remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems.

The GLA’s role is to administer these funding programmes on behalf of government. All decisions regarding the scope and design of these funds, including approvals of applications, are carried out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Please note, the GLA can only engage with those leading an application to the cladding remediation funding programmes – this will be the responsible entity or building owner, or an agent they have nominated. While the GLA cannot provide updates on applications to those claiming to be leaseholders, applicants are frequently reminded of their responsibility to keep residents up to date on remediation and funding progress. The GLA and the Mayor are committed to maintaining the anonymity of unsafe buildings in London in order to safeguard residents living in those buildings. As such, the GLA does not release any details of specific buildings applying to the cladding remediation funds.

In May 2018, the government announced £400 million to remove and replace unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding systems on high-rise tower blocks in England owned by social landlords (housing associations and local authorities). The prospectus sets out the scope and eligibility criteria for the fund. Mayoral Decision 2346 approved the GLA’s role in delivering this programme.

Eligible building owners should already be in contact with the MHCLG through the Building Safety Programme. If building owners have not notified the MHCLG of buildings that fall into this specification, they can do so by emailing [email protected]. This fund is not available for private residential buildings, or buildings where a commercial owner would be responsible for fire safety works.

In May 2019, the government announced £200 million to remove and replace unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding systems on high-rise private sector residential buildings in England. The prospectus sets out the scope and eligibility criteria for the fund. Mayoral Decision 2490 approved the GLA’s role in delivering this programme.

Eligible building owners should already be in contact with the MHCLG through the Building Safety Programme. If building owners have not notified MHCLG of buildings that fall into this specification, they can by emailing [email protected].

In March 2020, the government announced spending of £1bn to remove and replace unsafe non-ACM cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings in England. Mayoral Decision 2630 approved the GLA’s role in delivering this programme.

The registration prospectus sets out the scope and eligibility criteria for the fund. The government has published further information about the Building Safety Fund for applicants who have already registered their interest, been fully assessed at registration and invited to apply because their building is eligible. Please note, the initial round of registrations for this programme has closed.

For social-sector applicants (whose remediation costs are not deemed unaffordable or a threat to financial viability), the MHCLG has published ‘Social sector grants (leaseholders costs)’ guidance. This provides further information about the process by which registered providers of social housing can claim funding equivalent to the value of remediation work that would otherwise be charged to leaseholders (including shared owners). The GLA is not involved in the social-sector grant-claim process. Questions about social-sector grants should be directed to [email protected].

In February 2021, the government announced spending of a further £3.5bn for cladding remediation on high-rise buildings. The delivery model for this additional funding, including any role for the GLA in administering this grant for London buildings, has not been confirmed.

The Mayor has repeatedly highlighted the costs leaseholders face for interim safety measures such as waking watch. He has long called for the government to fully fund these costs across all unsafe buildings.

In December 2020, the government announced spending of £30 million to pay for the installation of common fire alarm systems in high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding, removing or reducing the need for waking watch. £16.1 million of the £30 million Waking Watch Relief Fund (WWRF) was allocated to London.

The GLA administered WWRF on the government’s behalf for buildings in London. All decisions regarding the scope and design of the Fund and approvals of applications were carried out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (subsequently known as the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)). Mayoral Decision 2774 approved the GLA’s role in delivering this programme.

The Mayor has always been clear that swift remediation of unsafe cladding remains an urgent priority. While those in the process of remediating their building were able to apply for the WWRF in the interim, it should was never a substitute or reason for delay.

The initial round of applications for the WWRF in London opened on 18 March 2021 and closed on 30 April 2021. MHCLG re-opened the Waking Watch Relief Fund on 16 September 2021. The application period closed on 10 December 2021.

The fund is now closed for new applications. Any application queries should be sent to [email protected]

Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2022

On 27 January 2022, the government announced a further £27 million to fund the installation of a common alarm system in all residential buildings regardless of height with a waking watch in place (the costs for which fall to leaseholders) due to any fire safety defect. DLUHC was responsible for administering the Fund in London. Full details, including on eligibility criteria and the application process, are available here.

The fund is now closed for new applications. Any application queries should be sent to [email protected]

Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2023

On 25 May 2023, the government announced a further £18.6 million to fund the installation of a common alarm system replacing waking watch measures in all residential buildings where a waking watch is currently in place in England, regardless of where the costs of the waking watch fall. DLUHC is responsible for administering the Fund in London - full details, including eligibility and the application process, are available here.

The Fund opened for all residential buildings on 25 May 2023 and will close on 24 November 2023. Applications received after 24 November 2023 will not be considered for funding. Any application enquiries should be sent to [email protected] .