More than 300 South Yorkshire buildings need updating following Grenfell fire tragedy, fire chiefs reveal

In light of the Grenfell tragedy in 2017, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) inspected all high-rise residential buildings in the region in a bid to find any fire safety risks.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) stated that 108 buildings in South Yorkshire needed to be made fire safe, but South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue believe 309 buildings need updating.

This is an extra 201 buildings that the government were unaware of.

SYFR were provided funding of £126,194, based on the 108 buildings they had earmarked.

A report to the region’s fire and rescue authority states: “It was identified early on, that the MHCLG list did not provide an accurate number of High Rise Residential Building (HRRBs) within South Yorkshire, and that more work would need to be done by the team to identify a truer list of premises. I

“t was also recognised that some of the premises identified by MHCLG were ‘complexes’ rather than individual buildings.

“In total, the team has identified approximately 309 HRRB’s, this is anadditional 201 buildings to that which MHCLG made us aware of and what the submitted trajectory was based on.”

To date, the fire service has carried out 179 building inspections on high-rise residential buildings, and found that 69 have problems with cladding, insulation, fire break systems, or other external wall system issues.