Update 31/01/25

Please find below our latest update on progress at Corner Place:

Our contractor continues checking and replacing the fire protection solutions. We are currently 13 weeks into their 20-week programme, where they are progressing well, but have reported that they require an additional three weeks to complete the works taking us to April 2025.

Once the works are complete, works will be inspected for sign-off, and a review of all the final documentation will take place for submission to the Regulator. We still anticipate registration to allow occupation in Spring 2025.

We have been made aware of another issue that relates to the contractor that provided us with the EWS1 (External Wall System) form. Tri Fire is a company that provides fire safety services and EWS1 forms for building owners and developers, and this week we have been made aware that they have been sanctioned by the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) due to concerns about the quality and reliability of some of their fire risk assessments.

The concerns stem from an investigation into a fire engineer employed by Tri Fire, Adam Kiziak. Mr Kiziak has been suspended from the IFE for six months and as a result, some lenders are now rejecting EWS1 forms completed by Mr. Kiziak, and some are even rejecting those completed by Tri Fire. EWS1 forms are essential for mortgage lenders to confirm the fire safety compliance of external wall systems.

Mr. Kiziak and Tri Fire have previously conducted numerous EWS1 forms for Southern Housing and other housing providers, and they had completed the work for us at Corner Place. We understand this may be concerning, and we want to reassure you that fire safety remains our absolute priority. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure the building meets the highest standards. To ensure complete confidence in the fire safety of your building, we are now arranging for a different fire engineering consultant to carry out a new EWS1 assessment. We will need to confirm to you a timeline for this re-assessment and will share it with you as soon as possible. We anticipate this being undertaken during the current period of works, and it not delaying occupation further.

We will provide you with our next progress update on 28 February 2025.

If you wish to discuss your individual circumstances you can contact your sales progressor, Alisha. You can also contact us by email at sales@southernhousing.org.uk or via the questions tab on this webpage.