Searching around for stories to feature in my next Newsround I came across this sad tale from Dublin where a man died in a fire in a house converted into 8 tiny bedsits.
His house-mates managed to jump onto a rear flat roof and escape.
I’m writing this post to raise awareness.
I know something about these things and have been raising concerns all over the place, to not much effect so far but ever like a dog with a bone when it comes to housing inequality I thought I would try and get the message out through Tessa’s blog.
Illegal conversions to micro-flats
In London, where affordable property is at a complete premium one of the main problems, apart from unauthorised outbuildings, AKA ‘beds in sheds’, is the illegal conversion of larger homes into micro-flats no bigger than my toilet.
Finding them is key
I go into these all the time. The problem with these conversions is finding them. A bed in a shed you can find by drones, which some councils use, or just peering over a garden wall. Train journeys are also very educational, affording unrestricted views to thousands of back gardens.
If you look at the picture to the side I took this in the back of a property we were raiding under a warrant, stood on a milk crate and looked over the fence. I saw 4 more in each garden down the line but there are few ways to detect a house that has been carved up, unless you have intel or a reason to go inside.
So what is wrong with creating loads of micro-units?
Ideal for single people in a national housing shortage you may say? Well, I’ll leave aside the planning breaches and general nonsense that goes on with fake licence agreements and concentrate instead on what I believe could have happened in Dublin.
In numerous property visits I have taken along electrical specialists who educated me on what the problem is and I even called and hosted a cross-borough conference at City Hall where the head of electrical fire safety from the London Fire Brigade gave a very illuminating and worrying talk on it.
It works like this
Every road in the UK has three power cables under them, called ‘Phases’. The responsibility for maintaining the system lies with a Chinese company, paradoxically called ‘UK Power Networks’, you may have seen their vans.
More electricity needed means more phases
Each residential home runs on a single phase, which is adequate to supply the amount of electricity being used by the occupants. If you look under your junction box you will see a cable running into an oblong plastic box about 5 inches X 2 inches, that looks like a bigger version of an old plug in fuse.
That’s it.
If there is a garage or laundromat that may need to use more electricity then they run three phases into the property so it doesn’t overload. When you look at the same junction box, just short of the main consumer unit you will see three of those oblongs, that’s how you can tell.
So, Dividing and Multiplying
When you divide a single house into 8 flats, as was done in Dublin, you have a much bigger draw on electrical power, especially if those flats are all electric. Which most of them are because it’s cheaper than running gas lines all over the building when the conversion is carried out.
Three phase not single phase
What you need is a three-phase head not a single phase. But getting the extra phases installed means paying UK Power Networks several thousand pounds to dig up the garden and road in front of the property and that costs money. Money that the owners of these properties don’t want to spend. Choosing instead to keep their fingers crossed that the worst doesn’t happen.
Developers stay under the radar
I was told once that UK Power Networks won’t install extra phases to a residential property without proof that planning permission has been granted. Which could be another reason why the owner/developers don’t approach the company, lest it alerts the local authority.
However, I’ve also been told by other electricians that this isn’t true.
Here is some evidence
I had an argument for weeks with a property developer who had created this kind of set-up and he arranged to meet me at the property with his own electrician who had backed his story that it was safe.
When they turned up, his electrician, who hadn’t visited the property before, had a look at the system and said:-
“Jeez, this is a death trap”.
One embarrassed looking developer.
Fire safety – the numbers are frightening
In a sense checking planning permission doesn’t matter one iota, because the dodgy development is meant to stay off the radar anyway in order to save money and avoid detection and there are thousands of these out there.
Here’s my Plea
So I’m appealing to any of my housing frontline type colleagues and environmental health officers who may be reading this and who do home visits, to:-
- not only log the numbers of people in the property for your own purposes
- but to also take a quick look at the phase head and see if it adequately supported.
- You don’t have to be an electrical expert, just count the heads.
- If it isn’t, report it to the local fire brigade for a safety check.
And it need not stop there
If you are a local authority procurement officer or letting agent, being offered a range of small studio flats, don’t be fooled by the nice decorations and the cleanliness. Just have a look at the phase head as well.
We should act now
You might just avoid being caught up in a scandal, something that in a post-Grenfell world, all housing people should be conscious of.
Don’t the power companies check for a property drawing an unsafe amount of power?
If not, couldn’t the HMRC with their new computer system? It is unlikely the owner is reporting all the rent.
Peter, with respect your suggestions, although I get where you are coming from somewhat simplify how this works.
Yes the energy suppliers can check fluctuations in use but can you imagine how many properties that would apply to in a completely innocent fashion?
Drop off’s caused by void periods…..properties and businesses shutting down or changing hands…..alternative power sources……..
Increases caused legitimately by building works……..extra free standing heaters……people running a catering business from home?
The list is endless and the energy companies arent tied up in housing regulations, all they can monitor is peaks and troughs.
There’s thousands of empty properties out there that would register no supply for years but the energy companies are in the business of revenue collection, not tracking dodgy landlords for the local authority to prosecute.
As for HMRC its a mistake to think that their investigatory powers are unfettered. We are not yet in a dictator state and they cannot invoke their impressive powers to investigate if they dont have some form of informed intelligence to start doing so, otherwise they run afoul of their own regulations.
I’m currently working with them on creating a gateway exchange that will help enforcement officers and HMRC to swap information. It isnt there yet
With respect Ben, I think you are over complicating it. Of course power companies aren’t looking for dodgy landlords, but they should be concenred about safety. Fuses are of course a simple solution to the safety issue,
Yes HMRC can not investigate without intelligence, but that is what their computer system is designed to provide, by analyzing the vast quantities of data they have and flagging up people for investigation. Unless the energy company is being paid in cash they already have the information about how much is being paid for power for a property. They started out just looking for people spending/saving more than they were declaring as income, but they got the power to access more data last year and were hiring another 50 analysts this year. As far as landlords go I’d expect them to start by looking for properties advertised to let whose owners have not declared rental income, but there is potentially a lot more that they could do.
No Peter it is you sir who are over simplyfying haha.
Whether utility companies should be concerned with safety is a non starter. Of course they say they are but their main focus is revenue collection to satisfy their share-holders. To think they put safety first is a bit Walt Disney. I have friends who work for these companies who are told not to bother with certain jobs when people like me flag them up.
As to HMRC, I can state for a fact that it isnt as simple as you suggest. Not 2 months ago I sat in a room with a bunch of them for three and half hours hearing how they work. I called the meeting and naively thought that if we gave them names and addresses they could fly out of the traps but their regulations dont allow them to even begin to investigate unless they have data provided to them in a specific format that ticks the requisite boxes in their own regulations and my crew is as we speak, working with them to create a procedural conduit through which enforcement officers can pass data to them in a manner which will allow them to begin an investigation.
I’m afraid life isn’t that simple!
Our own house has a 3 phase “head”, but the supply is only single phase – I guess, when they built it, Southern Electric used what they had to hand….
Likewise I know of a (modern) Grade 4 Eco house in Nottingham that is a single dwelling that really does have a 3 phase supply… The key is that it has quite a large Ground Source Heat Pump that needs the 3-phase supply!
A bigger problem when a house draws more current due to multiple occupancy is that the high current connections are vulnerable if they’ve not been correctly tightened (I’ve seen a couple that have had problems – in single occupancy houses I hasten to add!). When fitted the connections can appear tight, but as they heat up slightly and cool down in use, the strands “settle” into a looser configuration and then they are loose. Arcing happens, then more overheating and potentially fire…. There’s a risk of the cable stands finding their loosest configuration every time the high currant tails are moved and the Electrical Safety Council are very keen that the meter fitters should check all the high current connection when they fit new (eg smart!) meters to properties… (Reference: http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/electrical-professionals/product-safety-unit/tightness-of-meter-tails/ )
Thanks for that Neil, I’m no technical expert so I called a mater of mine who is an electrical hotwiring specialist for clarification. He spent 15 years working on dodgy meters and supplies for a major utility supplier until last year and he said this.
A three phase head on a single phase line is a worse danger than running several flats off of a single phase. The reason being that a single phase usually runs at 60 amps. If the property is drawing more power then the fuse unit on the phase head will blow and everyone is safe.
But if you have three heads, all drawing 60 amps then you have 180 amps drawing on a 60 amp input. So the fuses wont blow as a safety precaution, so the only alternative is for the unit itself to overheat and catch fire.
In your case, if your property isnt drawing more than 60 amps, even with a three head on a single phase there is no problem but if there are three phases on a single phase and the amount of residential units are spreading 180 amps of usage over a single 60 amp phase you are in a difficult position.
I cant argue this any more on technicalities as it isnt my specialism but my mate, whose dinner I just interupted, expressed concern
Tenants really do need to do their research when it comes to renting properties.
Micro units are a concern; there is very little possibility of escape when fires start in these kinds of unit, but it’s down to the landlord to ensure that properties have all the right safety equipment, alarms, and general equipment installed.
Grenfell Tower proved what can go wrong when corners are cut in a bid to save costs – http://www.pdfestates.com/fire-safety-for-rented-accommodation/
And what research might that be PDF? checking whether or not the properties have been converted with planning permission?
Why is it the tenant’s responsibility to check whether or not the property is safe?