Fire safety: Front doors to be replaced at thousands of ‘highest-risk’ council homes

Hackney Town Hall

Flats in Hackney tower blocks will get new front doors in a £30m programme to improve their fire safety.

The doors are being replaced at 3,500 council homes after concerns following the fatal fire at Grenfell Tower in west London five and a half years ago.

Flat doors at Grenfell Tower only withstood fire for 15 minutes when they were supposed to act as a barrier for 30 minutes.

The new doors being fitted by Hackney Council are designed to withstand fire and smoke for 30 minutes.

The council is giving the one-year contract to two firms. It is expected the work will take a year and an estimated 6,000 doors will be replaced in blocks over six storeys high – “the highest-risk blocks from a fire safety perspective”.

There are 10,000 homes in the council’s tower blocks in Hackney but not all of them will need replacement front doors.

In a leaflet to its council tenants in high rise blocks, the Town Hall said: “Testing undertaken by both us and the government showed that most front entrance doors, made by a number of different manufacturers, do not comply with all current fire regulations.

“We understand that you may feel anxious but the advice from the London Fire Brigade, which we endorse, is that residents are at no immediate risk and current doors still provide protection and valuable escape time in the event of a fire. The new doors will make homes even safer.”

The council told residents that tests put doors through extreme temperatures “that are unlikely to unfold in real-life”.

It said people should follow evacuation advice displayed in their blocks in an emergency.

The installation of the new doors will be inspected by a clerk of works.

Residents can choose to have a blank door, a door with a glazed section or a panel-effect door, and can pick from four colours.

In October 2018, the council approved replacing the front doors to flats and said it would not charge leaseholders.

A Town Hall report said: “The door proposed is the high-specification solid timber door that Hackney have installed since 2019. This meets the new higher standards for fire safety, the Secure by Design standards, and thermal insulation standards.

“The fire safety standards mean all doors are fitted with closers and smoke seals.”

The door frames are guaranteed for 30 years.

A previous contract was hit by delays because of Covid and the series of lockdowns.