Camden will keep working to deliver commitments on resident safety
Chalcots Estate major works completed
Building safety certificates achieved for 12 tallest council high-rise blocks
Over £300million invested in fire safety works in homes across Camden since 2017
100% of council homes with a gas boiler have carbon monoxide alarms installed
Electrical tests carried out to 97% of council homes in the last five years and 96% of homes installed with smoke detection – residents’ help needed to access the remaining homes
Camden Council is continuing to make progress on its commitment to deliver a new era of resident safety across the borough.
The Council has now completed the major works programme on the Chalcots Estate, installing A1 fire rated cladding, which is fully fire-tested, and new and improved windows across the five tower blocks on the estate - Blashford, Bray, Burnham, Dorney and Taplow. The windows are designed to the highest standard of safety, ensuring good ventilation and providing better glazing that lets in less heat.
The project also included replacing roofs and the brickwork at the base of the buildings, alongside enhancements and repairs to the entrances and areas surrounding the blocks. This follows earlier work by the Council to install new fire-rated front entrance doors and communal doors, and improving the fire stopping throughout the blocks.
Camden has also secured Building Safety certificates for 12 of its tallest council high-rise blocks called in by the independent Building Safety Regulator – the four taller Chalcots towers and also Casterbridge, Dalehead, Gilfoot, Mary Green, Oxenholme, Snowman, Bacton and 9A York Way Estate.
Nationally around 70% of Building Safety Cases have been refused this certification by the Building Safety Regulator, so this 100% approval rate puts Camden at the top of the building safety league.
We made a commitment to deliver the highest level of safety for residents living on the Chalcots Estate – and it’s been a real partnership effort with residents and many years work to complete this project. We not only want to thank residents for their patience during this process, but also their involvement, from shaping the initial designs to seeing the final results, the Chalcots community has been integral to this process. Residents now have homes with A1 fire rated cladding, safe and modern windows and a really strong reporting system into us to raise any concerns and ensure they are acted on.
12 of our tallest high-rise council blocks now have their building safety certificates, we’ve successfully installed carbon monoxide alarms at all our tenanted homes with gas boilers and completed the installation of 10,000 fire safe doors across our homes. This shows great progress, but there’s still more to be done. We will be completing the remainder of our fire safety works across our properties, completing the building safety cases for all of our 188 high-rise buildings and are continuing to invest in our building safety programme. Above all, we will continue to push this work forward and do everything we can to improve safety in homes across the borough.
There are a minority of council homes where we have been unable to install smoke detectors and carry out electrical tests due to our staff not being given access by the residents living there. My plea to those residents is to please let us in – these are really important safety works and having them done will help keep you safe.
Over £300m has been invested in fire safety works in Camden homes since 2017. This includes installing over 1,000 communal fire alarms in Council housing blocks, over 22,000 smoke detectors, emergency lighting on over 2,300 blocks and cladding works to a number of housing blocks.
Camden has also fitted over 10,000 fire-rated front doors, with 2,300 further fire doors set to be installed over the next year.