Insights 27/07/2023
The Housing Secretary Michael Gove announced on 24 July that the government now intends to impose a requirement for a second staircase on all new residential buildings taller than 18 metres, reducing the threshold from the previously proposed 30 metres.
The consultation on staircases in residential buildings was first launched on 23 December 2022 with the aim of improving fire safety for high-rise buildings. The initial proposal was to amend Approved Document B of the Building Regulations to impose the requirement that buildings taller than 30 metres (which equates to around 10 storeys) must have more than one staircase (for further detail on the initial consultation, please see Bob Sadler's article here). Following this, the Mayor of London announced on 14 February 2023 that with immediate effect, the GLA would require residential buildings of 30 metres or over in London to have two staircases (for further detail on this policy requirement, see Bob Sadler's article here).
The consultation ended on 17 March 2023. The outcome of this consultation has not yet been published. However, in a speech made on 24 July 2023, Gove confirmed that this threshold will be lowered to 18 metres, which equates to around 6 storeys.
This will have wide-ranging ramifications for future developments, but also for projects which are already in the planning system. Gove confirmed ‘DLUHC [the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities] will work rapidly with industry and regulators over the summer to design transitional arrangements with the aim of securing the viability of projects which are already underway, avoiding delays where there are other more appropriate mitigations.’
The impetus to lower the threshold came from a coalition led by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). This also included the Chartered Institute of Building, the National Fire Chiefs Council and disability rights groups. Together, these groups had called on Gove to lower the threshold.
The new threshold brings England in line with other countries, including Scotland, where buildings above 18 metres with only a single staircase are already banned. This policy development represents a success for the coalition campaigning for the change; the president of RIBA reflecting that 'Over six years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it is hugely positive and reassuring to see the government listening to the united call of experts on fire safety, bringing greater coherence and certainty for industry'.
The changes will also present challenges for developers who have schemes already in the planning system. We are yet to receive a response from the Mayor of London to Gove's announcement as to whether the GLA intends to follow in Gove's footsteps and lower the threshold to 18 metres for all planning applications in London. What is currently clear is that once this proposal is introduced, buildings that are taller than 18 metres will only get sign off from building regulations if there are two staircases (subject to the transitional arrangements). Stay tuned for further updates.
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