Research and analysis

Technical notes and definitions

Published 19 December 2024

Applies to England

Introduction

These technical notes and definitions support the latest statistics release on registered provider (RP) fire safety remediation in social housing in England. The release comprises of a briefing note, additional tables, supplementary documents and raw data, all available through the statistical release pages.

Data sources

RP fire safety remediation in social housing in England statistics are derived from the Fire Safety Remediation Survey (FRS). The FRS data collection provides information on the status of fire safety remediation for 11 metre plus buildings for which RPs are the responsible entity. We collect these data to support regulation of our consumer standards.

We collect the FRS quarterly and the data are drawn from RPs’ housing management records. Further information on the collection, processing and analysis of the data can be found in the data quality and methodology note.

In addition to the survey return for RSH, in which RPs report on their stock at an aggregate level, landlords were also asked to submit fire safety remediation data at an individual building level for assessment by MHCLG.

The building level data are not presented here, but were used during the data cleaning process to ensure consistency. Building level data are available on the MHCLG website.

Coverage

The Quarter 2 survey was issued to all large RPs (those owning 1,000 or more units of social housing), small RPs (those owning fewer than 1,000 units of social housing) who reported previously that they were responsible for relevant buildings and any landlord who had not responded to any previous surveys. The FRS is designed to capture data on relevant buildings for which RPs are the responsible entity on a specific date. All figures in this document refer to stock located in England.

RPs were asked to complete the survey on a registered group basis, where this applied, or as an individual return where it did not. The survey required RPs to provide aggregate level information to RSH for all relevant buildings where they are the responsible entity. Local Authority Registered Providers (LARPs) were asked to complete the survey on a voluntary basis as this return is not currently on the Single Data List.

Publication schedule

We intend to publish these statistics each quarter, with the data pre-announced in the release calendar.

All data, supplementary tables and additional information (including a list of individuals, if any, with 24-hour pre-release access) are published on our FRS statistics pages.

Purposes and uses of the data

We use the FRS data extensively as a source of administrative data and they are required by us to deliver our operational approach to regulating the consumer standards. See the data quality and methodology note for more information.

Why is the data published?

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority encourages public bodies to use administrative data for statistical purposes and, as such, we publish these data annually. The published dataset promotes transparency and users have found the geographical breakdowns of stock types and social rents particularly valuable, as these can potentially be compared to data on other housing types published in other statistics.

Who uses the data?

The primary users of these statistics and the underlying data are our own staff, who use the data within data-driven models (along with other regulatory data submitted by RPs) which assess the size, complexity and relative risks posed by each RP. Data are also used in sector-level profiling and other data analyses to enable us to identify and assess major risks and issues affecting RPs. Similarly, data are also used to inform responses to parliamentary questions or queries from Government departments on the life critical fire safety defects in buildings for which RPs are the responsible entity.

How is the data released and what can it be used for?

The statistical release and the accompanying dataset are useful primary sources of information for users interested in the social housing sector, or the remediation of fire safety risks in buildings 11 metres or more in height, in England.

We publish raw data along with a briefing note providing commentary and context for the data presented. Additional supplementary tables are available to provide additional information.

Strengths and limitations of the data from which the statistics are drawn

The FRS is designed to be a complete census of stock for buildings of 11 metres or more in height, which contain dwellings, and for which registered providers are the responsible entity and therefore no sampling errors should be present in the final dataset. However, there is inevitably a degree of inaccuracy, driven primarily by non-responses and reporting errors by individual RPs. See the data quality and methodology note for more information on how we deal with this.

Strengths of the FRS

The FRS data collection provides information on the status of fire safety remediation for 11 metre plus buildings for which RPs are the responsible entity. Data on fire safety assessment progress, external wall system (cladding) life critical fire safety risks and the progress of remediation programmes, for buildings of relevant height are collected on a quarterly basis directly from the providers who are the responsible entity. The data are subject to both automated and manual cleaning by a team of experienced analysts. The level of non-submission is minimal, and we take data quality very seriously with RPs subject to potential governance downgrades for serious data quality issues. See the data quality and methodology note for more information.

Limitations to note

Although we are confident in the quality of the FRS data, we are aware of some limitations due to data collection methodology.

Effects of RP reporting – The data from which the statistics are produced are provided by RPs. Much of this data will be drawn directly from RP housing management systems. While we challenge data which appear anomalous (see the data quality and methodology note for more information), we ultimately rely on RPs to provide an accurate reflection of their operations. Outlined below are key areas in which PRP recording may impact on the statistics.

In particular, the accuracy of self-reported building height measurements in the FRS is a limitation to the census of buildings. As RPs increase the number of buildings measured following the requirements set out in the legislation (The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023), it can be expected that inclusion of some buildings in the survey may change between rounds.

Identification of Responsible Entity

In some circumstances, the identification of the Responsible Entity for a building can be a complex process which in turn can result impact on the number of buildings reported.

Remediation

There are a number of contextual factors that can impact on the progress of remediation, including funding, litigation and cost recovery, skills and capacity, and supply chain issues. These can impact providers and buildings to different extents resulting in significant differences in remediation timescales across the sector.

Data cleaning processes

As part of our data validation and cleansing we may focus attention on particular areas of the FRS more intensively in a particular round. This can mean that RPs review their data in these areas more closely.

In addition, part of the FRS cleaning process involves checking that data in the FRS aligns with the building level data collected alongside the return for MHCLG. In Quarter 2, new questions in MHCLG’s building level data collection relating to specific remediation commencement and completion dates has resulted in a greater cleaning focus on the equivalent questions in the FRS (Questions 6 and 7 in Sections 2 and 3 of the return). Our engagement with providers suggest that this has in part led to the increase in unknown dates for commencement and completion of remediation seen in this quarter’s analysis.

FRS question changes

While the FRS collection has remained broadly constant since its inception in 2023, there have been amendments to questions to improve the quality and coverage of the data collected. When this occurs, there is a potential for a break in the continuity of the data submitted, due to RPs reviewing their data more closely, confirming definitions or checking accuracy.

FRS aggregate survey changes

Aside from updates to dates and time periods, here is a summary of the changes made to each round.

September 2023 – Initial survey

December 2023 – Introduction of questions relating to confirm extent of building identification and coverage of reporting by providers.

April 2024 – Changed wording of question 4 to improve reporting of buildings with safe or unsafe EWS materials

Q1 2024/25 (June 2024) – No change

Q2 2024/25 (September 2024) – No change

Definition of terms

The definitions presented below are provided for clarity of terms and categories within this release. They are consistent with the manner in which data were collected in the 2024-25 Q2 FRS collection. See the 2024-25 Q2 FRS guidance published as part of this release for more information.

Building control sign off

The issue of the completion certificate by the building control surveyor.

Building height

Is defined as per the Building Safety Act 2022

• is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys.

• is at least 11 metres high, or has 5 or 6 storeys but is below 18 metres in height.

The determination of building height will be as per the The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023

The height of a building is to be measured from ground level to the top of the floor surface of the top storey of the building (ignoring any storey which is a roof-top machinery or roof-top plant area or consists exclusively of roof-top machinery or roof-top plant rooms).

Where the top storey is not directly above the lowest part of the surface of the ground adjacent to the building, the height of the building is to be measured vertically from the lowest part of the surface of the ground adjacent to the building to the point which is a horizontal projection from the top of the floor surface of the top storey of the building (ignoring any storey which is a roof-top machinery or roof-top plant area or consists exclusively of roof-top machinery or roof-top plant rooms).

Developer self-remediation contract

As defined in: Developer remediation contract

External Wall System (EWS) [Cladding]

The combination of the external wall facing material used on the external walls of buildings. A building can consist of multiple external wall systems.

Individual material types will reference to the guidance published by MHCLG, formally known as the DLUHC.

Taken from: Data collection on external wall systems: technical note

Materials

Material	Information
Glass (excluding windows)	This should be used to record any forms of glass excluding windows. For example, glass curtain walls.
High Pressure Laminate	High Pressure Laminates (HPL) are panels made of a combination of wood or paper which are then impregnated with a resin and consolidated under heat and high pressure. They are available in a wide range of colours. Care should be taken to identify the precise fire properties of the panel used as similar panels may or may not have fire retardance.
Aluminium Composite Materials	Aluminium Composite Materials are usually made of two thin sheets of metal with a filler material between them.
Other Metal Composite Materials	Any metal cladding panel with a filler material that is not made of aluminium. These may be made of zinc or copper, for example.
Metal sheet panels	Panels made purely of metal with no filler. These may be aluminium, zinc or copper.
Render system	Render is an external cement finish to a building. This may be smooth or textured.
Brick Slips	Brick slips are the faces of bricks which have been cut and then attached to the building to create the appearance of a brick finish.
Brick	Traditional brickwork.
Stone panels or stone	Any stone or panels made of stone.
Tiling systems	Any tiling systems (for example terracotta tiling).
Timber or wood	Timber or wood, including any wood cladding systems (but excluding any wood based HPL which should be included in High Pressure Laminate).
Plastic	Any plastic (for example glass reinforced plastic).
Concrete	Any concrete (for example glass fibre concrete, pre-cast concrete panels, glass reinforced cement/concrete, fibre cement or cement board).
Other	Materials other than those listed above – please provide details.

Fire Risk Assessment (FRA)

This will be the Fire Risk Assessment under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Order was amended by s1 of the 2021 Fire Safety Act to clarify the scope of the Order includes, for buildings containing 2 or more sets of domestic premises:

• the building’s structure and external walls (including windows, balconies, cladding, insulation and fixings) and any common parts

• all doors between domestic premises and common parts such as flat entrance doors (or any other relevant door)

Fire Safety Act commencement prioritisation guidance confirms that if a responsible person’s Fire Risk Assessment covered requirements set out at section 1 of the Fire Safety Act at point of commencement, they did not have to review it again at that point.

However, providers should be mindful of article 9 (3) of the Fire Safety Order to regularly review and update the fire risk assessment if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or if there has been a specific change to the premises or its use.

Please see Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) and Fire Safety Act 2021 (updated in 2023) for more information.

Group

For the purpose of this return, providers are defined as being members of a group structure if they are subsidiaries and associates of one another within the meaning of those terms as set out in Section 271 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. Providers are defined as being parent bodies when they are a body of which another body or bodies is/ are (a) subsidiary(ies) within the meaning of Section 271 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.

Life-critical fire safety defects/ Life-safety fire risks

For the purposes of this return, life-critical fire safety defects/ life-safety fire risks are taken to mean, defects, shrinkages, faults or other failings (on their own or in conjunction with other defects, shrinkages, faults or failings) in a building, which give rise to fire safety risks which are assessed as not “medium - tolerable” (or better) by a FRAEW undertaken in accordance with PAS 9980 (in relation to external wall construction or cladding) or assessed as high risk or medium risk by an equivalent FRA according to industry standards covering other parts of the building.

Ownership of units within buildings

For the purposes of this data collection, a provider owns property when it: (a) holds the freehold title or a leasehold interest in that property; and (b) is the body with a direct legal relationship with the occupants of the property (this body is often described as the landlord).

If the owner has a leasehold interest in the property, that lease can be of any duration, as the length of lease that the landlord holds does not determine whether it is owned or not.

Other Fire Safety Defects (non-EWS)

Other Fire Safety Defects’ may include, but are not limited to:

• Compartmentation between dwellings or between dwellings and common parts

• Inadequate fire stopping or fire barriers

• Incorrect or missing fire escape signage

• Inadequate/defective fire detection and alarm systems

• Unprotected means of escape

• Inadequate/defective firefighting equipment or installations

Registered providers

An organisation that is registered with the Regulator of Social Housing. These are either private bodies (private registered providers) or local authorities (local authority registered providers).

Relevant height

Relevant height refers to the building height requirements for each part of the survey.

In section one the relevant height is defined in each question, question 1 relates to buildings of between 11 metres and 18 metres in height OR which have 5 or 6 storeys but are below 18 metres in height and question 2 relates to buildings of at least 18 metres in height or which have at least 7 storeys.

In section two the relevant height of buildings is a building which is between 11 and 18 metres high, OR which has at 5 or 6 storeys but is below 18 metres in height.

In section three the relevant height of buildings is a building of at least 18 metres in height or which has at least 7 storeys.

Remediation

Remediation is assumed to be the resolution of issues identified in the FRA which, if once complete, would be assumed to result in those issues not being identified again if the building were subject to a subsequent FRA.

Cladding remediation

As per Schedule 8 of the Building Safety Act 2022.

Cladding remediation” means the removal or replacement of any part of a cladding system that

(a) forms the outer wall of an external wall system, and

(b) is unsafe.

Cladding remediation

Responsible Entity

For this data collection, we will use the Building Safety Fund definition of Responsibly Entity for the purposes of this survey:

The Responsible Entity is the organisation that has the legal obligation or right to carry out the remediation works. The Responsible Entity may be the building’s freeholder or head leaseholder, registered provider of social housing or a management company or Right To Manage (RTM) company that has primary responsibility for the repair of the property.

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Contact information

Responsible statistician: Amanda Hall

Public enquiries: enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or 0300 124 5225