黑洞社区

Berkeley has said it will no longer focus on tower schemes and build more low-rise developments in future if the government鈥檚 proposed ban on single staircases in blocks above 30m goes ahead.

Plans for towers which require a second staircase will be 鈥渂riefed out鈥� in favour of lower buildings with a larger footprint, the developer鈥檚 divisional managing director Brian McKenzie told 黑洞社区. 

The rules are already in place in London after the mayor Sadiq Khan decided last month to apply them with immediate effect and they are expected to come into force across the UK as soon as October.

It means that all planning applications in the capital for new buildings above 30m must now have second staircases before going to the Greater London Authority (GLA) for final sign off.

McKenzie said the change is a 鈥渞emarkable challenge for everybody鈥� that has put the developer鈥檚 high rise schemes currently going through planning and pre-application stages 鈥渂ack to square one鈥�.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very much a disruption because everything we鈥檝e developed didn鈥檛 have a second staircase and in some scenarios it鈥檚 difficult to actually do it retrospectively, so we鈥檙e back to square one trying to understand what it is that we can feasibly do,鈥� he said.

The shake-up could also lead to gridlock in planning departments as London developers scramble to renegotiate existing plans which had already been established with local authorities before the rule change, McKenzie added.

See also>> What the second staircase rule would mean for high-rise blocks

鈥淚t鈥檚 more just the time that it鈥檚 going to take because it鈥檚 not unique to us, it鈥檚 everyone across London. There鈥檚 a scarce resource in terms of the planning authority鈥檚 capacity,鈥� he said.

Berkeley鈥檚 response to the single staircase ban is likely to involve focusing on buildings with cores that can be linked, reducing the amount of floorspace which is lost on each storey when adding an additional staircase.

But that will require developments with greater coverage, McKenzie said, or tall buildings which are much wider, a change which he warned would make it much harder to design schemes which are aesthetically pleasing.

He also said it could result in reductions in the amount of open space and public realm in developments as developers seek to compensate on lost floorspace .

鈥淔irst and foremost [Berkeley] try and create as much amenity for the public as possible and that鈥檚 going to become more challenging, because if you can鈥檛 put a tower in to get the density up we鈥檙e then going to have to increase coverage,鈥� he said.

The comments come after housing association Peabody warned of a 鈥渄ramatic impact鈥� to its development programme because of the single staircase ban, which it said could result in the delay of around 4,000 homes.

The organisation鈥檚 head of design Robin Palmer said 20 scheme with towers above 30m are likely to have to 鈥済o through a meaningful redesign鈥�, some of which already have planning permission.

The government鈥檚 consultation paper on the ban, published in December, suggested there may be a 鈥渧ery short transitional period鈥� for schemes and told developers to 鈥減repare for this change now鈥�. The consultation deadline is tomorrow.

The GLA said in February that Khan had 鈥渃onsistently expressed concerns that the fire safety requirements in the national 黑洞社区 Regulations are not fit for purpose, so the proposed strengthened requirements and clear direction at the national level are strongly supported鈥�.

The authority added that it is 鈥渨orking hard to look at feasible options鈥� to progress schemes currently in the pipeline which require a second staircase given the planning delays could have on affordable housing and grant funding.

In a statement, Build UK said: 鈥淭here is growing consensus across the industry that 30 metres is an appropriate height, above which two staircases should be required. Following the recent change introduced by the Mayor of London, we are joining other industry bodies to call for a national decision to be made as soon as possible to enable projects to continue.鈥�

Key industry bodies including the G15 group of London housing associations have backed the 30m rule, although others, including the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Fire Chiefs Council have called for the threshold to be strengthened to towers taller than 18m. The National Housing Federation has called for clarity as soon as possible.

RIBA said in 2018 in its response to Judith Hackitt鈥檚 review of building safety regulations conducted in the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell fire that all high-rise buildings taller than 11m should have more than one means of escape.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities expects the requirement to cost the construction industry 拢1.6bn over the next 10 years with a 30m ban, 拢2.5bn if this is lowered to 18m and 拢3.7bn for 11m.