High rise buildings

The definition of 'high rise' is a building with 7 or more storeys or that are 18 metres or higher and this is determined by the Building Safety Act 2022.

In June 2017, an independent review was commissioned by the Government, due to the tragic events at Grenfell. This highlighted the need for stronger regulations for high rise and high risk residential buildings.

High rise engagement strategy

At Hillingdon, our motto is 'Putting residents first' and our High rise engagement strategy sets our how we will keep residents living in our council owned high rise properties informed and make sure they know how to communicate any concerns to us.

• High rise engagement strategy (PDF, 263 KB) (opens new window)

Strategy objectives

Through our high rise engagement strategy, we aim to ensure residents:

• feel safe in the buildings they live in
• know what do in the event of an incident in the building they live in
• can communicate with key building safety contacts at the council
• understand the responsibilities of both the council and residents in maintaining a safe living environment
• know how they can participate and the benefits of being involved in building safety
• are communicated with in a clear manner that is easy to understand
• can make a complaint if concerns are not being listened to.

Gathering resident feedback

The high rise engagement strategy is a live document, which we will regularly review and update based on feedback. We are eager to get your insight into the strategy, to understand if it is clear and if there are areas we can improve. Please provide your feedback to our customer engagement team at customerengagement@hillingdon.gov.uk

We also engage with residents in all our high-rise blocks to understand their needs, and work with them to create bespoke safety packs for their building. We run building and fire safety information sessions with representatives from the London Fire Brigade, Metropolitan Police and staff from our caretaking, fire(s) safety, tenancy management and localities (community safety and anti-social behaviour) teams. These sessions are in person and online and at a variety of times to suit our residents needs. If you are interested in these sessions, please contact our customer engagement team at customerengagement@hillingdon.gov.uk or call us on 01895 277038.

Management strategy and management offer

We have created bespoke safety and information packs for all our high rise buildings, providing comprehensive information to residents about their specific blocks.

The bespoke information packs have been hand delivered to all residents in our high rise blocks and are also available to download in PDF format below:

• Housing management offer to residents living in high rise (PDF, 2 MB) (opens new window)
• housing management strategy for occupied higher risk buildings (PDF, 887 KB) (opens new window)

We regularly visit all of our council owned high rise blocks to review the safety arrangements and identify any issues.

If you have any concerns, you can contact us directly.

Building and fire safety resident panel

The council is setting up a building and fire safety resident panel where residents of our high rise buildings come together to discuss and consult on building safety matters. If you would like to be part of the group, email us at customerengagement@hillingdon.gov.uk or call us on 01895 277038.