Residents have been sharing their fears over the rising costs of waking watch patrols amidst ongoing delays in fire safety repairs at residential high-rises.
In a recent BBC News report, one leaseholder expressed his concerns over the increasing costs of fire safety measures at the Royal Quay apartment complex near Royal Docks, describing it as a “financial nightmare”. The fire safety measures were put in place after an EWS1 assessment deemed the building’s cladding to be unsafe.
As reported by the Newham Recorder in April 2021, Gallions Approach Management Limited (GAML) informed leaseholders that the replacement of the dangerous cladding would cost nearly £22 million. While the building underwent remediation work, a waking watch was also implemented, at an annual cost of £157,000, resulting in a 25% increase in residents’ service charges.
However, resident James Greenwood told BBC News that the building’s service charges had “gone up 130% in just the past six years”.
"That kind of percentage is just insane," he said.
"There’s little transparency around the costs and who should pay,” James added.
Such sentiments have been deliberated during several high-profile court cases on fire safety liability. As previously reported by the FPA, in September 2023, a landlord was found liable by a First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) to cover waking watch costs after it “failed” to “undertake a proper fire assessment”. The case highlighted the responsibilities of landlords to have up-to-date fire risk assessments in place. Summarising several recent fire safety cases, Sarah Alexander of Dentons UK states, “Waking watch costs can be recoverable from the party responsible for the cladding while the building waits to be remedied.”
In December 2023, the government also announced an extension of its support fund for the replacement of waking watch measures in all residential buildings in England where such measures had been implemented. As reported by Inside Housing, while the purpose of the 2023 Waking Watch Replacement Fund would be to “cover the upfront capital costs of installing an alarm system”, it could not be “used to recoup costs for work which has already begun”. The government reiterated, however, that the £18.6 million fund would benefit “leaseholders who may have faced high costs or delays in the implementation of interim safety measures by providing financial support and delivering a better, long-term fire safety system in their buildings”.
Regarding the ongoing fire safety measures at the Royal Quay complex, Gallions Approach stated: "The waking watches were put in at the insistence of London Fire Brigade after it was discovered that the buildings had flammable polystyrene insulation in the external walls.
"The waking watch staff are paid the minimum wage, and they will be discontinued once the works to remediate the flammable materials are completed in September 2024."