Fire Brigade Serve Enforcement Notice on Luxury W4 Flat Development
Redrow's safety procedures lacking at 500 Chiswick High Road
500 Chiswick High Road. Picture: Google Streetview
May 14, 2023
A recently built block of flats on Chiswick High Road has been served an enforcement notice by London Fire Brigade after significant concerns were raised about fire safety.
The development at 500 Chiswick High Road was completed in 2017 by Redrow Homes Ltd and contains 66 flats including seven penthouses in the four-storey block. The townhouses in the development are not affected.
When they were being marketed for sale the promotional material stated, “Each exclusive west London home is built to luxurious specifications, and feature finishing touches such as engineered oak flooring, underfloor heating, and silestone work surfaces in the kitchen.”
When originally sold the prices achieved ranged from £385,000 to £1,900,000 with buyers attracted by high specification interiors and underfloor heating along with concierge-controlled access to the buildings and secure underground parking.
An enforcement notice from the Fire Brigade is a statutory document which requires the owner of the building to act within a given time and goes on a public register.
The developer Redrow Homes Ltd, which is based in Wales, has until 10 July to comply with the notice. The Fire Brigade will reinspect the property and, potentially, if it remains unsatisfied with the measures taken could issue an Article 31 notice which would require the all or parts of the building to be vacated with nobody allowed to remain there overnight.
The notice cites six breaches of relevant fire safety legislation including a failure to take general precautions, a failure to review the fire risk assessment and a failure in the effective management of the preventive and protective measures. In addition, it was found there was no effective planning or control of preventative measures and the emergency routes in case of fire were inadequate and not clearly indicated and that there was not an appropriate emergency plan. The owner was also deemed to have failed to co-operate with an earlier attempt to co-ordinate measures required by the order.
A local estate agent said, “Until this issue is resolved it is hard to see how any of the flats could be sold if there was a mortgage associated with the purchase. There may be several knock-on effects such as increased home insurance costs. The service charge is not inconsiderable therefore it is inexplicable how this situation has been allowed to arise.”
Redrow says that it is ‘committed to addressing any identified life-critical Fire Safety works at 500 Chiswick High Road’.
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