Moat | Our commitment

At the time they were built, all the buildings we own and manage would have been signed off by building control authorities, in line with fire safety regulations at that time.

In 2018, the Government passed a Building Safety Bill which set out new requirements to remove ACM and HPL cladding on buildings. Cladding is the material which forms the external envelope of the building. It provides weather proofing and often incorporates a layer of insulation too. The Building Safety Bill found that these particular types of cladding did not meet new fire safety regulations, so the Bill set out requirements to remove this cladding from all residential buildings over 18 metres in height.

We currently own eight buildings that are either over 18 metres in height or 6 storeys or more. We are working on three of these buildings where fire safety remediation is needed. The other five buildings have been assessed and so not require any further fire remediation. This year, we have started surveying our lower rise buildings we own to understand if there are any additional fire safety measures required in addition to what is already in place.

The actions we're taking

Budgeting for works

We’ve set aside significant funds for future fire safety works and we’ll be covering the cost for all our customers who rent.
Working with managing agents, freeholders and/or responsible person

We also have customers who live in homes where we are not the freeholder of the building and /or are managed by others – these are typically buildings where a managing agent is in place. Where this is the case, we do not have the legal authority to carry out external wall surveys or schedule fire safety remediation works. It is important to us that fire safety in these homes meets the same standards as the buildings we own. We continue to work with building owners (the responsible person) and managing agents to receive updates about any planned remedial work, progress with any Building Safety Fund applications and to ensure they provide Moat with an EWS1 form when acquired.
Getting expert advice

We work closely with independent external advisers who provide expert advice on the best fire safety practises to ensure we stay compliant. We also work closely with Fire Engineers, Forensic Architects and local Fire Services to decide which buildings will require any form of remedial work.
Exploring all channels for shared owners and leaseholders
For shared owners and leaseholders, we are working to minimise the costs passed on to you for remediation and fire safety works. We’re doing this in a number of ways, including:
- Seeking remediation through the developer:
  For homes where we are the freeholder, we are speaking to the original developers to work with us on any remedial works where it has been identified they were originally responsible for the work
- Seeking remediation through the warranty provider:
  For new-build homes where we are the freeholder, we are approaching warranty providers if we believe the new home warranties may cover claims related to the structure and Building Regulation compliance.
- Applications to the Building Safety Fund:
  The government-led Building Safety Fund aims to cover the cost of remediation in buildings that are eligible. Only the building’s ‘responsible entity’ can make an application to the Fund. Where we are not the freeholder of the building, we are working closely with the responsible entity (usually the managing agent) to progress applications for funding.
- Lobbying the Government:
  We are members of the National Housing Federation (NHF) which represents the views of the housing sector to the government to help shape key decisions. Through the NHF, we continue to lobby government and local MPs to make sure funding is available to protect our customers from these costs.
- Waking Watch replacement fund:
  Interim measures such as Waking Watch are short term options to mitigate an immediate risk. The fund is for the benefit of leaseholders facing high costs for interim safety measures by providing financial support and delivering a more sustainable interim fire safety system in their buildings pending remediation or mitigation work. Non-residential buildings (hotels and student buildings) and residential buildings that do not have leaseholders or where leaseholders are either not liable or have not borne the costs of Waking Watch are excluded from the fund. Where we are not the freeholder of the building, we are working closely with the responsible entity (usually the managing agent) to progress applications for funding.