Transitional period announced for UK building safety 'second staircase' rules

The announcement of the transitional period was made by housing secretary Michael Gove last week, in a bid to provide much needed clarity to the rules on when new residential buildings will require a second staircase.

Planning expert Nicholle Kingsley of Pinsent Masons said Gove’s latest statement is “an attempt to resolve some of the difficulties and uncertainties” caused as a result of government changes in position since December 2022. In the government’s initial consultation, the proposal was to mandate two staircases in all new residential buildings in England above 30 metres in height. However, in July, Gove confirmed the government would impose the ‘second staircase’ requirement at the lower minimum height of 18m.

According to Kingsley, uncertainty around the new rules has led to developments being put on hold, contributing to the fall in residential schemes coming forward.

During the 30-month transitional period, which will begin when the revisions to Approved Document B are published, new building regulations applications can conform to either the previous requirements, or to the updated regulations requiring second staircases, according to Gove’s statement. When the 30 months have elapsed, all applications will need to adhere to the new guidance, meaning second staircases will become mandatory.

Kingsley said: “Whether lenders, agents, insurers, developers and ultimately occupiers take note of Gove’s request that delivery of consented single staircase buildings continues during these transitional periods is difficult to determine given there are many more considerations than simply technical regulatory compliance in making such a decision”.

Build-to-rent market expert Natalie Harris added: “The announcement of transitional rules and the fact that Michael Gove stressed that the safety of consented schemes will already have been considered is helpful. However, I suspect that in the absence of the details of how the transitional rules will work developers and investors will be reluctant to bring schemes forward. Even when the rules are available, investors may be nervous about not delivering second staircases, regardless of whether it is lawful to do so, if the government is ultimately saying this is the safest course of action for new buildings of a certain height.”

Gove’s announcement also stated that any approved applications not compliant with the new requirements will have 18 months for construction to commence. If construction is not underway after 18 months, a new building regulations application following the new requirements will have to be submitted.

“With these transitional arrangements, we ensure that projects that already have planning permission with a single staircase, the safety of which will have been considered as part of that application, can continue without further delay if they choose. This means that, for some years yet, we will continue to see 18m+ buildings with single staircases coming to the market,” Gove said in the statement.

Gove made it clear that existing and upcoming single-staircase buildings would not later need to have a second staircase added when they are built in accordance with relevant standards, well-maintained and properly managed. However, Kingsley suggested that early compliance with the new requirements even during the transitional period may be preferred by some and should be considered.

“In planning terms, where possible and notwithstanding the transitional provisions, amendments to design in order to accommodate two staircases in buildings over 18m should be considered. That is likely to lead to further discussions on s106 obligations to accommodate resulting changes to floorspace or viability, but local authorities should be urged to approach such discussions sensibly and pragmatically to enable delivery of much needed housing development,” she said.