Fire safety updates following the Grenfell Tower fire

Grenfell Tower in Kensington, north west London, is a 24-storey housing block that was built in the 1970s and contains 120 flats. A fire started in the early hours of Wednesday 14 June 2017 and spread quickly. 

It is still too early to know the cause of the fire or why it spread so quickly throughout the block, claiming so many lives.

The London Fire Brigade and other agencies will be undertaking formal investigations and the findings of these will be shared with us and other landlords of similar properties.

There will also be inquests into the deaths of Grenfell victims and the government has confirmed that there will be a public inquiry. Like other authorities across the country, Lambeth has been taking urgent action following the Grenfell fire, in relation to fire safety.

What we are doing

  1. We have a dedicated central fire safety team to respond to immediate concerns and queries in relation to high rise properties as a response to the Grenfell incident. This is working within our existing health and safety team.
  2. Although we have recently complete Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) to all relevant buildings, we are undertaking an immediate audit in our high rise properties (ten storeys and above). This will include all fire safety and housekeeping arrangements.
  3. We are carrying out a further technical building-specific review of the fire risk assessments for all our high rise properties that have cladding.
  4. We have extracted samples of all cladding used on our medium/high rise residential buildings and submitted those samples to government for testing (we are awaiting results).
  5. We are continuing to work closely with the fire authorities to make sure our properties are safe and meet the required standards. We will follow any new findings or recommendations following the Grenfell fire investigation, where they apply.
  6. We are issuing practical fire safety advice to residents and information will be updated on our website to respond to immediate concerns and queries.
  7. We will be offering battery operated smoke detectors to any residents living in a high rise property where there is no smoke alarm fitted, for them to install in their flat.