G15 response to PEEPs consultation

The safety and wellbeing of all our residents is our number one priority. As organisations that are responsible for more than 600,000 homes, our members are continuously working to ensure the safety of well over 1 million people in their homes.

Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the importance of the fire prevention and mitigation work that our members invest significant resources into every year has rightly taken on greater prominence. In response to the issues that have come to light in recent years, and subsequent regulatory changes that have followed, G15 members have earmarked at least £3.6bn to be invested over the next 15 years to improve the safety of our homes and to address building safety issues.

Alongside this significant additional investment that we are making in our homes, our organisations, rightly, have also continued to deliver essential fire risk assessment, compliance, and mitigation work. This includes working closely with our residents and other partners, such as local authorities and the Fire Service, to provide information and support to residents to reduce the risk from fire as far as possible.

We therefore welcome the government’s consultation on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) and the opportunity to respond to the proposals being made.

In our response, which can be found below, we call for:

• A proportionate approach that assesses risk and focuses on steps to mitigate the likelihood of a fire through the use of Person Centred Risk Assessments.
• Consideration of the impact of these proposals on the accessibility of certain homes.
• Clear and reasonable guidance to be issued to support resident safety.