Today, the government announced that £27 million has been made available in the Waking Watch Replacement Fund. This builds on the £35 million that was originally apportioned for the original Waking Watch Relief Fund. This funding is available to pay for the installation of fire alarms for buildings of all heights. Previously, this Waking Watch Relief Fund was only available and limited to structures over 18 metres in height.
Here at Jensen Security and Fire Safety we think this is great news. It means that hundreds more buildings where leaseholders and residents have been forced to pay for costly fore safety patrols by the freeholders, will not longer have to. Instead, the Waking Watch Replacement Fund can be used to cover the cost of installing fire alarm systems. This will be of no extra cost to residents and lease holders. The Government predicts that this will be saving leaseholders around £160 per month.
The announcement by the Government goes beyond the existing £35 million. It is important to note that this fund is already supporting over 320 buildings to replace the expensive 24-hour fire patrol services. This funding has been created to end the ‘unacceptable misuse’ of ‘Waking Watch’ provisions.
Michael Gove is the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This funding follows his stark warning to the buildings industry that either the latter comes forward and pays to fix the building safety crisis, or the Government will otherwise be forced to impose a solution via a new law.
Lord Stephen Greenhalgh is the Minister for Building Safety and Fire. He explained that he thinks it is unacceptable that innocent leaseholders are still facing fire risks in their own home. Further to this they are being subjected to the disgraceful misuse of rip-off measures. They are at the mercy of building owners and Lord Stephen Greenhalgh stands to stay that this is not acceptable.
The extra funding available through the Waking Watch Replacement Fund will be a huge relief to many leaseholders that were being forced to pay unnecessary costs.
If the Waking Watch Replacement Fund is something of interest to you, call our team now. We can talk through the details and even help complete your application for the funding.
