Keeping our multi-storey buildings safe

On the evening of June 14, 2017, shaky mobile phone footage started to appear on social media that seemed to show large fire spreading up the side of a tall building. 

Images from the streets below were soon posted, video from car windows, rooftops, commentary from people miles away speculating on the beacon that had suddenly appeared on the horizon. 

It was apparent a disaster was unfolding, the scale of which had not been seen on mainland UK since World War II, and soon the UK was looking on in horror and dismay as fire tore through the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, North Kensington, killing 72 people and injuring many more. 

“The wellbeing of our customers is fundamental to everything we do,” said Tina Drury, managing director of Your Homes Newcastle, the largest high-rise housing provider in Newcastle and the largest social housing provider in the city, managing 26,000 homes on behalf of Newcastle City Council. “We believe everyone should have a home and that home should be safe, secure and provide people with peace of mind that when they close their front door, they are comfortable, protected and in control of their environment. 

“The safety of our customers and of the people visiting our properties has always been, and will always be, our primary concern, but when Grenfell happened, everything changed. Our high rises did not have the same cladding as Grenfell, but we knew that as well as being safe, people must also feel safe.” 

In the direct aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy, Your Homes Newcastle stepped up its programme to test all render and insulation materials used on high-rise blocks, with all passing industry standard tests, and none of the blocks using the aluminium composite cladding as used at Grenfell Tower. Contractors replaced decorative panelling in stairwells in a small number of buildings as a precautionary measure. 

Around £30m was invested in a fire door repair, maintenance and replacement programme, YHN launched a pilot project utilising thermal imaging cameras in bin stores of some tower blocks and a huge education project was launched to raise awareness of fire safety protocols and evacuation processes. 

The human cost of the Grenfell Tower disaster was immeasurable. The financial cost to housing providers has been colossal. 

It is thought more than £3bn has been invested in London alone to improve fire safety standards. A study from late 2020 estimated that the largest housing associations across the UK were investing over £1.2bn, and only last month, the Government announced it would spend an unprecedented £5.1bn removing unsafe cladding from buildings. 

Tina added: “Residents quite rightly sought assurances that their homes were safe, and we realised that in some cases, little historic information was available about older properties, so we needed to make changes. 

“Your Homes Newcastle already worked closely on community safety programmes with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, and we made the decision to create a specialist team that would not only carry out extensive fire risk assessments across our property portfolio, instigating and overseeing any upgrades projects required, but also working with communities to ensure they knew they were being looked after and were not at risk from harmful material in or around their homes.” 

Visit the Multi-storey building safety section of our website for more information about how we're keeping our buildings safe.

YHN's Building Safety team

“We are five years into a programme of community safety that serves to address any issues we may have in our housing stock and work with the communities to ensure they feel safe...”  

In the aftermath of Grenfell, Your Homes Newcastle decided to do things differently.  

A new approach saw us recruit an elite team of senior firefighters (pictured above) - with a combined total of 90 years’ experience – to lead the charge on public safety. 

Alan Robson served in Northumberland Fire and Rescue and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service for over three decades. The former firefighter was recruited by YHN as Building Safety Manager. Alan hired former colleagues, firefighters Mark Hayes and Ian Bell to form the Building Safety Team, which works hand in hand with a 12-strong Compliance Team, to reassure people still coming to terms with the fallout from the UK’s worst mainland fire for generations. 

“When we examine the materials used in homes, we work on a granular level,” said Alan. “Anything that might be deemed hazardous is assessed and, if deemed an issue, removed. And often, even if things aren’t hazardous, we will take action. We removed small amounts of aluminium cladding from some buildings, not because it was dangerous, but because we wanted to make sure residents did not worry about it. 

“Everyone should have a right to a home, and everyone has the right to feel safe in that home. We work to ensure that is the case. When we visit a high rise, we are looking at lift operation, intercoms, testing smoke alarms, examining emergency exit routes...and while we work, we engage with residents. We are a visible reassurance that any of their concerns are heard and that we will take action to either address an issue or allay their worries.” 

Alan’s team has introduced and is delivering YHN’s Building Safety Plan, a requirement by law that guides upgrades and investment on housing stock, but YHN is taking it further. 

“We are building the safety plan into everything we do,” said Mark, a firefighter of 31 years. “We have colleagues working with the national executive advising on how we address safety via customer relations – helping shape how things are done on a national level. 

“But everything we do starts with people – it begins on a local level, working with our communities. We have worked hard to build up trust, developing successful relationships and ensuring people have confidence that their homes are safe. 

“Grenfell was a disaster that should never have happened, but we must ensure that the lessons learned from the tragic loss of so many serve to save lives for generations to come.”