Category: Insights

The Industry Competence Committee (ICC) was set up in September 2023 to provide strategic leadership, advice and encouragement on matters of competence to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and the construction industry. It’s inaugural annual report has now been published. With industry competence a central criticism emerging from all post-Grenfell Tower inquiries and reports, this […]

Ged Moore, Managing Director at Auro by Harmony While many would argue that the pace of technology adoption in the social housing sector remains lamentably slow, the rise and prominence of data analyst and chief technology officer (CTO) roles in housing organisations reveals a different reality.  As a housing leader recently remarked to me, data […]

What have we learned from the recently published minutes of the 2 April final session of the Ministerial Working Group (MWG) on Building and Fire Safety arising from the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2? The 26 participants reinforced Scotland’s acceptance of the Grenfell Inquiry’s recommendations and the plans for implementation through cross-sector collaboration. This is a […]

Safety is fast becoming a very hot political potato for a government with a manifesto pledge to deliver new homes at a rate last seen over 50 years ago, during Harold Wilson’s premiership. To build 1.5 million new homes by 2029, the Prime Minister committed to ‘take the brakes off building’ with planning reforms to […]

The recent Scottish Government Response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report recognises the importance of this tragic event as a catalyst for profound change in enhancing resident safety. The introduction of a number of reforms, immediately following the Grenfell disaster in 2017, have now been augmented by the Scottish Governments acceptance of all […]

Is it possible to believe you’re doing the right thing – yet be inadvertently embarking on a course of action that sets the conditions for a catastrophic failure? This is the question that we frequently pose to housing sector leaders when we first engage over the issue of fire safety protection for residents. Post-Grenfell, the […]

The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy continues to shape building safety reforms across the UK, and the government’s recent acceptance of all 58 Inquiry recommendations reinforces the reforms introduced by the Building Safety Act and other key policies. Dame Judith Hackitt joined us to exclusively reveal some of the key elements of the government’s […]

Fire safety used to be a sector existing under the radar, that is until a catastrophic incident takes place, or more latterly when a potential scandal hits. The Grenfell Tower tragedy is perhaps the single largest event to catapult fire safety into the public consciousness, but the recent exploits of Tri Fire could arguably prove […]

Housing sector leaders are under increasing pressure to do more, while the corresponding resource pool available shows somewhat less flexibility towards the upside. Demand for homes is at unprecedented levels and just seven months into the new government’s tenure, its 1.5 million new homes pledge is leading to many raised eyebrows. A toxic combination of […]

Since 1945, no one in the UK has died as a result of a fire in a building with an operational sprinkler system. This one fact alone should make the clearest possible case for sprinkler installation in all multi-occupancy residential settings – but we know that knowledge and the direct application of that knowledge are […]