HUNDREDS OF residents of Waltham Forest Council (WFC) homes were said to have been ‘misled’ by the council over the fire resistance of their flats’ fire doors.
Guardian Series reported on the claims made by local resident Nick Tiratsoo at a full council meeting earlier this month, in which he accused WFC of ‘misleading’ hundreds of residents ‘for years’ over fire door safety. He claimed that 217 residents in five of the areas blocks were ‘misled’ about how fire resistant front doors were, and alleged that WFC ‘repeatedly insisted’ the units – installed post Grenfell – were FD60, or had a fire resistance of one hour.
However ‘it later emerged this was not true’, he claimed, and the news outlet noted that neither of these claims were ‘disputed’ by councillor Louise Mitchell, who is responsible for housing and homelessness prevention. WFC is currently improving fire safety across its buildings, and estimates this will cost £38m, with tenants and leaseholders set to potentially be charged for the works.
In a statement read out at the council meeting, Mr Tiratsoo commented: ‘The council told residents that the new front entrance doors were certified FD60 and made the same claim repeatedly in public. In 2019, and for reasons that remain unexplained, the council sent three (doors) from the 2017-18 batch to Dubai for fire testing, and they failed at 31, 34, and 45 minutes.’
Mr Tiratsoo asked WFC if it had ‘formally apologised’ to residents across the five blocks for ‘misleading’ them over the last two to three years, and called on the council to ‘publish the evidence that it relied upon’ that said the doors were FD60, as well as explain why they were tested and whether it had ‘informed the police when they failed’.
The units were installed in Northwood Tower, Boothby Court, Goddarts House, Holmcroft House and Lime Court in 2017 and 2018, and in November 2018 a resident of Goddarts House told the news outlet that he was ‘very concerned’ about his new door, stating it was a ‘total failure’ and had ‘no label of certification’.
At the time, Ms Mitchell said the doors were ‘rated as fire resistant up to 60 minutes’, and at the meeting earlier this month insisted fire safety ‘has always been a priority’, encouraging concerned residents to let the council know ‘immediately’. She added: ‘Nothing is more important than the safety of our residents. That means ensuring that our management of and investment in council homes puts fire safety first.
‘As a council we are investing £250 million in our housing stock over the next six years and £40 million of that is specifically set aside for building safety. The Government is bringing in stronger measures to ensure new buildings are built safely and existing buildings are brought up to standard. We are going above and beyond these requirements to make all our council homes safe and fit for the future.
‘I want to be absolutely clear, if anyone - any resident or member - has concerns that there is a potential fire risk in their building, they should report this issue to us immediately. I’m always happy to look into residents’ concerns and will ensure that we provide a full response.’
Ms Mitchell also commented that post Grenfell, WFC had ‘begun identifying and fixing’ issues in buildings, and was ‘regularly inspecting’ fire doors, adding that she would contact Mr Tiratsoo to respond to his statement ‘in full’.