Most dangerous tower blocks named

By Ed Davey
BBC News, London

London councils have been housing residents in tower blocks that are at high risk from fire, the BBC has learned.

In July six people died in a fire at Lakanal House, Southwark - a block that had been given a medium risk rating.

Experts now consider the building to be unsafe because of the speed at which flames spread during the fire.

But a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed 102 residential blocks in the city are considered even more perilous.

Councils use a scale to determine how great the risk of fire is in a building.

And 10 London councils have confirmed they have one or more tower blocks rated as high risk because of "possible occurrence of an extremely harmful event or likely occurrence of a harmful event".

BBC London asked a surveyor to visit one such block in Hounslow, west London - and he said the danger there was "off the Richter scale".

ANALYSIS Cornish House fire hazards No fire resistance between flats and lifts - during fire residents would be trapped as smoke and fire spread by lift shaft acting as a chimney. A padlock on one fire escape and no release bar on another. It took the expert several minutes to work out how to open it. Emergency lighting by the escape removed - residents could face opening it in darkness. Holes bored through ceilings for cables wide enough to allow flame to pass, accelerating fire spread. A section of floor smashed through following a water leak fire proofed with plastic bag Fireman's entry switch broken, denying emergency services access to the block. List of tower blocks in London rated high risk by their councils [20.7 KB] All tenants deserve a safe roof

Arnold Tarling, a chartered surveyor with 22 years' experience in fire risk, visited Cornish House, a tower block that has been inhabited by council tenants for decades.

Mr Tarling said: "It's not just that there were loads of faults - they've been increasing over the years as more shoddy work is carried out.

"I would describe the risk level as off the Richter scale.

"I would not want to live in that building."

Of Hounslow's 37 tower blocks, 21 are rated high risk and none of them has a valid fire risk assessment in place - as with Lakanal House, which had not been adequately checked.

Mr Tarling continued: "It's a culture across the whole country - we have lost a lot of knowledge as to maintaining fire protection in buildings.

"It's only because we have been lucky that there have not been far more fatalities over the years."

He added: "The social housing tower blocks are just the tip of the iceberg - there are all the privately owned towers as well."

Bernadette O'Shea, chief executive of Hounslow Homes, which runs housing for Hounslow Council, said: "We have sent our own technical team out to investigate the concerns highlighted by BBC London and await their report.

"We have commissioned a firm to undertake new, detailed fire-risk assessments, beginning on 6 October.

How safe is your home?

"We would like to reassure our residents that we are doing all we can to minimise the risk of a similar incident [to the Lakanal House fire] happening."

Almost all of London's councils use a British Safety Standard "risk matrix" to decide if buildings should be rated as high risk.

It is a grid that allows councils to weigh up the chances of a fire and its possible severity to make a judgement on risk.

But Barnet Council rates all of its tower blocks as high risk.

Barnet Homes chief executive Tracey Lees said: "In light of the fatal fire in Camberwell earlier this year, we took the view that we should treat all of our tower blocks as high risk.

"We believe this is our duty as a responsible landlord."

Although councils are legally obliged to ensure fire regulations are followed, no organisation has been policing the rules.

Consequently, until now there has not been an overall picture of how safe London's tower blocks really are.

Information gathered under the FOI has enabled the identification of London's 102 high-risk tower blocks, as well as those that do not have a valid fire risk assessment.

London Fire Brigade has not commented on the matter but has asked for the BBC to provide them with the full list.

Council	Tower blocks	Rated high risk	Without valid fire risk assessments
Barking and Dagenham	42	0	0
Barnet	28	28	0
Bexley	40	0	17
Brent	40	3	0
Bromley	0	0	0
Camden	234	0	0
Croydon	40	0	0
Ealing	54	2	0
Enfield	56	0	4
Greenwich	101	6	71
Hackney	258	6	20
Hammersmith and Fulham	67	Does not measure	34
Haringey	48	10	6
Harrow	0	0	0
Havering	14	14	0
Hillingdon	12	Does not measure	0
Hounslow	37	21	37
Islington	117	Does not measure	16
Kensington and Chelsea	33	0	3
Kingston Upon Thames	4	0	0
Lambeth	112	Does not measure	110
Lewisham	74	2	0
Merton	17	0	7
Newham	82	1	2
Redbridge	14	14	0
Richmond Upon Thames	4	0	0
Southwark	299	Incomplete	Incomplete
Sutton	5	Does not measure	0
Tower Hamlets	129	Does not measure	0
Waltham Forest	21	Does not measure	10
Wandsworth	194	0	0
Westminster	476	Does not measure	32

Table based on information provided by councils and believed accurate as of 6 October.