Practical fire safety for existing specialised housing and similar premises: BRIA

4. Business

The impact on housing and care providers will depend on the current position, the results of the premises based and person-centred risk assessments and the extent, complexity and urgency of any work required. There is no baseline data on the current position so it not possible to establish accurately the impact. Discussions from engagements with stakeholders indicates that many are already undertaking such assessments (particularly where this is required under legislation). The person-centred measures, if not undertaken previously, may have an impact: most measures are not expected to incur major expenditure, except potentially for the highest risk residents.

Scale
To determine scale, it is necessary to identify the number of premises and people that fall within the scope of the Guidance. The numbers below are taken from the best available data.

There are at least 125,000 premises which fall within scope of the Guidance. This is based on available local authority and housing association statistics. The actual number of premises covered by the Guidance is likely to be higher than this. This is because not all forms of supported housing may be included in the data and, additionally, the figures do not include specialised housing or similar premises provided by private landlords.

Premises - Housing Figures Breakdown

Scottish Government figures: taken from Housing Statistics Annual Key Trends (2019)

Scottish Housing Regulator: Stock Provision for Year end March (2019)

Available figures show the following breakdown for local authority and housing association housing stock:

Figures for local authority housing for older people and those with disabilities (year 2018-2019)

Scottish Government figures: taken from Housing Statistics Annual Key Trends (2019)

Local authority figures also show 38397 "other dwellings" for older people with community alarms, which could indicate a vulnerability (and is included in the total figure of 124608).

Figures for housing associations - housing stock for sheltered, very sheltered, medium dependency and disabled adaptions (year 2018-2019)

Scottish Housing Regulator: ​Stock Provision for Year end March (2019)

People

It is very difficult to estimate the number of people who may benefit. Instead it is possible to examine cohorts of people who may, due to their status, benefit from the fire safety guidance. One cohort is those that are in receipt of social care support. The latest data shows that in 2017/18, 230,000¹ (1 in 24) people across all ages in Scotland, are in receipt of some form of social care support. However, not all of those would be regarded as high risk and therefore require a person-centred assessment and additional fire safety measures.

Based on available data where the client group was known, "elderly and frail" accounted for 44% (89,120) of those in receipt of care and support services. The next largest client group "physical and sensory disability" accounted for 36.9% (74, 867). The type of social support is varied and can include home care, care homes, meals, day care, social worker, housing support, community alarms/Telecare. Data is available on those which involve local authorities (but not self-funders). In addition, there will be an element of unmet need not accounted for in these figures; that is where people are in need of support but are not currently receiving any due to a variety of reasons including local authority eligibility criteria. Without numbers and more detailed information it is not possible to make an estimate how many of these people would benefit from fire safety measures.

NHS ISD, Insights into Social Care in Scotland, (2019)

Across these categories, those who receive personal care are perhaps the most likely to need support with fire safety. Personal care is support given for a number of areas including, washing and dressing, eating and drinking, medication, and immobility. The latest data shows that in 2017/18 just over 50,500 people in Scotland were in receipt of personal care. This figure excludes Glasgow City, as they did not return detailed data to NHS ISD.

Cost of Fire Safety Measures

Costs for fire safety measures will vary, depending on circumstances, and the outcome of the risk assessment process. The following are cost estimates based on publically available information:

• Suppression: Typical 3 to 4 bed house – Total costs £3000-£3500 equivalent to 1-2% of build costs
• Personal protection systems – Total cost of supply and installation is around £3000 including VAT
• According to The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) the annual maintenance costs of domestic fire sprinkler systems is £50 for a single family home and between £10 - £20 per flat.
• Annual maintenance costs of the personal protection system is around £200.

According to information published on the (CFOA) web site in 2013, the average cost of a fire in a domestic property is estimated at £24,900 . According to a publication from the (CFOA), 380 fire related deaths in Britain in (2011/12), 287 occurred in residential dwellings. DCLG estimate the cost of a fire fatality at £1.65m and £185,000 for a serious injury

(Source: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/media/1825/sprinkler_toolkit.pdf)

Other person-centred fire safety measures are likely to cost much less:

Fire retardant bedding – less than £10
Safety ashtrays – less than £10

(Source: https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/media/2238/1-assisted-living-technology-catalogue.pdf)