Manchester City Council has agreed to the recommendations of the Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. The review aims to protect high-rise properties and ensure residents feel that the buildings they live in are safe.
The agreement reveals how public bodies will work with the private sector to ensure high safety standards within the building and development industry. The Review was commissioned in reaction to the Grenfell tower fire and aims to prevent similar occurrences. Slack fire regulations are a national problem. There are still 79 tower blocks in Greater Manchester which do not meet fire safety standards, 30 of which are covered in the same material as Grenfell tower.
Manchester is the fourth council to join the movement, alongside Birmingham city council and Camden borough council. The council’s role as an ‘early adopter’ means it must champion building safety and act as a forerunner to cultural change. Structural reform on council-owned buildings will occur before legislation makes such changes mandatory.
Dame Judith Hackitt spearheaded the review, which prioritises safety ahead of all other building priorities. The existing private sector members include Willmott Dixon and Kier and significant housing associations, such as L&Q, are committed to implementing the guidance provided by the Hackitt Review.
Suzanne Richards, Manchester City Council’s member for Housing and Regeneration, said: “Manchester residents in private high-rise blocks are still feeling the impact of the Grenfell tragedy. Too many buildings still haven’t been remediated and the costs are being unfairly heaped onto leaseholders.
Emmanuella Ejsase-Tobrise a third-year history and sociology student, who lives in a newly built tower build told The Mancunion: “My building is pretty new, I think there are safety measures put in place and are adequate, but it annoys me that there are new regulations only coming out now, Grenfell Tower was years ago and it took them this long to come up with preventative measures?
“The fact that there could be buildings that are still unsafe is very scary, the Bolton fire was also completely irresponsible of the university they put their students lives in danger, it was an incident that could easily be avoided.”
