Guidance has been updated to help Responsible Persons meet their obligations to support disabled and vulnerable residents
An update to guidance on Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (Residential PEEPs) has been issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government on 2 December to include specific guidance for Responsible Persons.
Implemented as part of the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025, Residential PEEPs are designed to improve the fire safety of individuals who may have difficulties evacuating a higher-risk building without assistance.
The guidance relates to a suite of measures designed to ensure:
- the Responsible Person(RPs) (typically the building owner or manager) identifies residents who need Residential PEEPs
- a person-centred fire risk assessment – a conversation between the responsible person and the resident, if one is requested by the resident – is undertaken to understand their particular risks and identify how their fire safety and evacuation can be improved
- an emergency evacuation statement is created of what the resident should do in the event of a fire (if agreed between the responsible person and the resident)
- information for the appropriate fire and rescue authority is gathered to help inform any operational response and in case they need to undertake evacuation (but only if the resident explicitly agrees to that information being shared)
- the person-centred fire risk assessment/emergency evacuation statement, and the building emergency evacuation plan is reviewed on an ongoing basis
The regulations will come into force on 6 April 2026 and will only apply in England to all high-rise (18m+ or seven-storey) residential buildings and to all multi-residential buildings more than 11 metres that have simultaneous evacuation strategies in place.
The guidance includes a toolkit for RPs, which provides support on “potential interventions and strategies to support the fire safety of their relevant residents”, with real-life examples that provide “a range of potentially feasible options for RPs to consider”.
RPs are also encouraged to share their own examples of good practice of implementing Residential PEEPs for possible inclusion within the toolkit.
Responding to the publication of the guidance, PEEPs advisor and trainer, Elspeth Grant of Triple A Solutions, said that the Residential PEEPs regulations and guidance “expose some practical legal friction points with other regimes”, including the Fire Safety Order, data security legislation, and the newly enacted Awaab’s law.
You can access the full guidance document and other related resources here.