Lower second staircase mandate could result in redundancies, experts warn

Michael Gove’s surprise decision to lower the proposed height threshold for second staircases in new residential blocks will stall more schemes and could lead to redundancies, industry experts have warned.

The housing secretary stunned the built environment sector yesterday by revealing the government is now intending to lower the requirement for additional stair cores in buildings from the 30m proposed last year to 18m.

Gove’s Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said it was “confirming the intention” to mandate the fire safety measure at the new lower height despite giving no forewarning to the sector or even its own consultants.

Developers forced to redesign schemes above 30m following December’s announcement of the now redundant higher threshold will be faced with the same issue for blocks above 18m, worsening the disruption which has swept the housing sector this year.

The higher threshold, which was brought in with immediate effect in London by Sadiq Khan in February, has resulted in major housebuilders including Peabody, Clarion and Hill putting large numbers of major schemes on hold so second staircases can be added.

HTA Design managing partner Simon Bayliss said Gove’s latest decision, which comes at the height of summer when many staff are on holiday, has been done “seemingly almost to maximise disruption”.

“It’s massive,” he said, adding: “there’s very little in London that goes below 18m somewhere in the project because of the pressures on viability.”

PRP partner Andrew Mellor said the lack of warning provided by Gove “could potentially lead to more people not having work to do in design and construction companies and housing developers”.

He said: “Some projects over 30m have stalled. I think we’re now going to see projects between 18 and 30 stalled because they’ll have to revisit, if they have not included two stairs.”

“It is stopping the provision of housing projects moving forward. People have been made redundant because of the stalling process, both in consultants and contracts and organisations,” Mellor said.

He warned there is now a “very difficult period” coming for the housing industry for the next two or three months as clients work out how to respond to the change.

Gove has also been criticised for the lack of regulatory clarity provided in the announcement, despite claiming it “responds to the call from the sector for coherence and certainty”.

No impact assessment has been provided with the move to 18m and no further details on the technical requirements of designing second staircases, including whether firefighting lifts or evacuation lobbies will be included in the mandate.

DLUHC is also yet to outline how the policy will align with the introduction of new building safety regulations expected at the beginning of October

“The ideal situation would be that everything would align together, so we can respond as an industry to the building safety act and second stairs,” Mellor said.

The Home Builders Federation said the decision to impose the stricter rule provides ”significant challenges to industry”.

”It is imperative that Government now provides clarity and detail on the requirements very quickly, puts clear transitional arrangements in place that are suitable for large scale developments and ensures planning departments have the requisite capacity to manage the changes,” the body said.

”Government also needs to provide leadership  and work with all stakeholders to ensure schemes approved under the previous regulations still come forward under the new ones.  Any delay or misstep by Government will have a serious impact on housing supply and development viability and cause major issues for businesses”

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The limits on viability imposed by the 30m threshold has affected how some large developments are designed, with housebuilder Berkeley saying in March it would focus on low-rise schemes in the future.

But Bayliss said the 18m threshold could lead to higher towers as developers seek to maximise floorspace with second stair cores.

He also said it could result in more demolitions if clients become reluctant to refurbish existing buildings which only have single stairs, a trend which would run counter to Gove’s recent decision to reject Marks & Spencer’s plans to rebuild it Oxford Street store, partly because of its embodied carbon impact.

“If you’re refurbishing a building, you’re gonna say, ‘well, I don’t want to end up with a white elephant, or I don’t want the residents to pick up on the fact that it’s only got one staircase, and it’s above 18m. 

“It’s become more complicated, because people are now much more alert to the implications of the fact that there are regulations and that they’re changing. Lack of regulatory uncertainty is a massive problem.”

Bayliss added: “I’ve never known a more difficult time, even in the last 20 years… there’s nothing’s moving forward with certainty or any real pace.”

RIBA, which has campaigned for the threshold to be set at 18m, called the move a “huge win” for fire safety standards.

The institute’s president Simon Allford said: “This is a significant moment. Over six years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it is hugely positive and reassuring to see the government listening to the united call of experts on fire safety, bringing greater coherence and certainty for industry.  

”Mandating second staircases in new homes over 18 metres is a vital step towards a safer built environment for all. We are pleased to have played our part in this.”