Clause 8 - Clause Guidance about inspections and enforcement action
Housing Bill
10:30 am
Dr Brian Iddon (Bolton South East, Labour)
Amendment No. 173, in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford, relates to fire sprinklers in HMOs. Its purpose is to make the link between HMOs, which are covered mainly in part 2, and an effective hazard remedy with statutory guidance on part 1. It draws attention to the significant contribution that sprinklers can make to ensure a safe HMO environment. I am sure that it will have cross-party support because on Second Reading the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) and the Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) referred to the tragic deaths of two brothers who lived in an HMO. The hon. Member for Wealden took a delegation to see my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary, who signalled that the Government were paying significant attention to the amendment. I, too, spoke about sprinklers on Second Reading.
Some 35 per cent. of all fire deaths and 39 per cent. of all fire injuries occur in HMOs. In 2001, there were more than 22,500 fires in HMOs, which resulted in 116 deaths and more than 4,700 injuries. Those are significant statistics, as I am sure Members will agree. Between 1991 and 2001, injuries caused by domestic fires increased by 19 per cent. In 2001, the total was 13,881. The total cost of residential fires, including fires in HMOs, stands at the record figure of £1.9 billion. The fire risk is therefore significant, and my amendment, if it is accepted, would go some way to addressing that obvious danger to the community. I believe, as do many Members, that sprinklers are an effective way of reducing the personal injury, physical damage, grief and financial hardship caused by fires.
Despite what I have said, the cost of installing sprinklers is significant, but I have learned that landlords and others can greatly offset the cost of installation against the reduction in insurance premiums. Insurance premiums continue to rise because of the risks that I have described, but I stress that insurance costs should stabilise, if not go down, if we can halt the rise in fire deaths in HMOs.
There are many myths about sprinklers. In Hollywood films, when there is a fire in a building, including in a domestic one, sprinklers go off all over the building. That is a myth. Sprinklers do not go off all over the building. Sprinkler technology goes back 100 years and is very high-tech today. If a fire starts in a room in which there is a sprinkler, only the sprinkler head in that room will be activated. As the fire travels through the premises, the rest of the sprinkler heads of the sprinkler system will be activated in turn.
Another myth about sprinklers is that they cause huge damage to premises, including domestic premises, which I am discussing. The amount of water from a sprinkler head needed to extinguish a fire is far less than that which is used when the fire brigade arrives and pumps large volumes into the premises. Fire sprinklers not only save lives but probably cause significantly less damage than the fire brigade can cause when it arrives on the scene.