Manchester Evening News reported on the ‘extensive investigations’ at the flats in Rochdale by landlord Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), which included examining the inside of walls, and which found ‘serious problems dating back to work carried out in the late 1990s’. This related to compartmentation, and while there were not issues between flats on different levels, residents ‘may be asked to leave if there is a fire on a floor immediately below or above their apartment’.
As a response, RBH is putting a waking watch in place to monitor the towers ‘so action can be taken at the first sign of a blaze’, and one block in particular - College Bank – has ‘serious structural problems’, necessitating a change from stay put to “get out” in terms of evacuation in the event of a fire. Assessments are usually undertaken at that block annually, and due to the number of properties empty in the seven blocks – and plans to demolish four – meant more intrusive work could be done.
Of the 772 flats across the seven blocks, 500 are occupied and ‘most by a single tenant’, with RBH finding that the compartmentation issues ‘affect all the homes’ at College Bank, ‘regardless of which building or floor they are on’. As a result, it is looking into ‘what work will need to be carried out to make the buildings safe in the longer term’, and residents – as well as being told to ‘get out’ – have been asked to alert neighbours as they leave, and exit using the stairs ‘not the lift’.
The waking watch will be in place for ‘an initial three months’, with costs not passed on to residents, with a letter from RBH to residents stating: ‘Our investigations have found that there is an issue with the external panels that might increase the potential for a fire to spread to other homes on the same level, rather than being contained as it should be.
‘This is known as a problem with ‘compartmentation’ and appears to have been caused by inappropriate work carried out on the buildings in 1998, before the formation of RBH. As ever, our residents’ safety and wellbeing is our number one priority.’
RBH chief executive Gareth Swarbrick commented that RBH understood the news ‘may be very unsettling’ for residents, with help ‘on hand should it needed’. He added: ‘The safety and wellbeing of residents is our number one priority. Guided by appropriate expert advice we are putting in place a number of immediate steps to keep residents safe and it is important that all residents read and follow the updated safety guidance.’