Fears new London buildings are being designed to avoid fire safety rules

London Fire Brigade has voiced concerns that new properties in the capital are being designed to avoid post-Grenfell fire safety rules.

There are “hundreds if not thousands” of new buildings which may be “deliberately” designed to avoid stringent fire safety rules put in place after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, said fire chiefs.

Paul Jennings, deputy commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said housebuilders may be “gaming the system” by designing buildings lower than an 18-metre limit to be considered a high-rise building.

He told the BBC’s Newsnight: “We have got examples where we think people are deliberately designing and building their buildings below that 18 metre, six floor threshold because they know if they reach that threshold they would have to put advanced and more intricate fire safety measures in.”

He warned: “We are potentially extending the legacy issues that we are already currently discovering that are in London and in the cities across the country.”

“We are seeing around 60% of the building consultations that come into the fire engineering team and others are ones where we are going backwards,” added Mr Jennings.

The Housebuilders Federation, which represents housing developers, told Newsnight: “Developers meet the building regulations set by Government without exception.

“Standards today are considerably more exacting than previous iterations. Building regulations differ dependent on the type of building, but all have residents safety at their core.”

The Government said: “The safety and wellbeing of residents is our priority and the Building Safety Bill will strengthen oversight and protections for everyone in high rise buildings.

“All new buildings of any height must meet building regulations fire safety requirements and we have already banned the use of all combustible materials on external walls of new residential buildings over 18 metres.”