Many people will have heard on the media that Birmingham City Council has committed to, and has apparently costed, installing sprinklers in all it's high rise blocks - covering all 213 residential blocks is going to cost them £31 million.
Which is quite puzzling to some of us tenants - because, put simply, we are struggling to understand why the City is therefore quoting a cost of £15 -20 million to install sprinklers in just 33 residential blocks?
We recognise that there are differences in design but, having checked with Birmingham, a larger proportion of their stock are 11 storeys plus (a substantial proportion are 15 storeys or more) and a number of designs are quite complex (e.g. one features 145 flats over floors 4-15, with open pilotis areas, integral and free standing structures housing retail, commercial and community space from the ground to 3rd floor).
Yet there the figures were in the Housing Sub-Committee Report on Fire Safety on 3rd July.
Apparently no-one on that Committee picked up on this or queried it, because they're there again in the Report going to tomorrow's Community & Children's Services [Friday 14th July]
In addition, Appendix A of this Report lists not only the City's social housing, but also residential buildings on the Barbican Estate. The quoted figure of £15 -20 million doesn't differentiate between these two - it's not clear how much of this (or any of the other figures quoted) would therefore fall to the Housing Revenue Account (and ultimately individual tenants and leaseholders) and how much is payable by those in the Barbican..........
Report attached below - see Paragraph 18
"Just checking the figures again your Honour......."