Pete Apps

Always a pleasure to provide Reassuringly Boring content, which we could actually all do with a dose of sometimes

(and also, generally, just love good high concept commissioned art for policy features, having been in so many design meetings of this sort down the years)

Could the UK’s low house price growth be a good thing? Agents are ‘gloomy’ about ‘downbeat’ figures from 2025. Projections for 2026 are ‘boring’. But there is some cause for optimism

Really enjoyed getting the chance to write this for The FT. House price growth is lower than it was 10 years ago - but properly considered, isn't this a sign of economic health?

www.ft.com/content/1d5d...

The damp and mould quick fix with dangerous consequences Positive input ventilation units are marketed as an easy solution to damp and mould. But if improperly installed, they can have dangerous health impacts.

Another extremely important story by @peteapps.bsky.social, this time about a positive ventilation system gone wrong because it was installed in a mouldy loft. An extremely shocking story, which put at risk a very young baby

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/indo...

A nice thing this. The GP in this article who has written Gloria Don't Speak a "challenging but tender" book about a young woman with learning difficulties is... my sister! So pleased to see her amazing writing getting the recognition it deserves

observer.co.uk/culture/book...

The damp and mould quick fix with dangerous consequences Positive input ventilation units are marketed as an easy solution to damp and mould. But if improperly installed, they can have dangerous health impacts.

When it comes to damp and mould - beware quick fixes and remember, it is what is in the air that is truly dangerous.

This story about a family whose health was seriously harmed by an inappropriate fix should be a big warning:

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/indo...

£134k deposits and record homelessness: London's housing crisis in numbers Plus: who is Build to Rent actually for, and why James Cleverly is wrong about Grenfell

London - a city of record homelessness, £134k mortgage deposits and collapsing levels of social home building. Hard to see how you'd look at these numbers and think the strategy is "cut minimum affordable housing levels for new projects"

peteapps.substack.com/p/134k-depos...

I suppose I'm getting away with using Pickles' official job title of "communities secretary"

Robert Jenrick was the worst housing secretary I can remember. He would be a dangerous leader of the opposition Jenrick was almost comically bad as housing secretary, but the prospect of him taking control of the Conservatives is seriously frightening

Since he's in the news, I've taken the paywall off my old bit on Robert Jenrick's record as housing secretary:

peteapps.substack.com/p/robert-jen...

PAS wars, heat networks as the new cladding crisis and nightclub fires A post-Christmas triple-hander considers PAS 9980, a looming problem of heat network repair and the tragic predictability of nightclub disasters

A national remediation programme that neither makes buildings safe or reduces costs for residents might as well not happen at all

peteapps.substack.com/p/pas-wars-h...

Fires in nightclubs started by pyrotechnics This Feature Article highlights the ongoing global risk of nightclub fires started by pyrotechnics, following an incident in North Macedonia that claimed 61 lives.

Pyrotechnics in nightclubs are never a good idea. In fact, they are a recipe for an utterly nightmarish fire which we should have stamped out long ago. There's a good report on they here: www.cross-safety.org/uk/safety-in...

There are far, far too many deaths in bar and club fires caused by pyrotechnics. These incidents are utterly horrifying, far too frequent and should be prevented. To this list (from Ed Galea) you can now add Switzerland and Goa:

The flat-owners facing £60k bills to upgrade communal boilers Nearly a million leaseholders may be forced to pay thousands to improve heat networks, which are often unreliable and wasteful

Are underperformed heat networks poised to become the next cladding crisis for leaseholders?

New govt rules will require upgrades to tens of thousands of systems... but residents will pay:

www.thetimes.com/article/d81f...

Should we be more worried about scaffolding fires in occupied buildings? In the aftermath of the deadly Wang Fuk fire in Hong Kong, focus turned to bamboo scaffolding. But scaffolding in the UK can pose a fire risk as well.

We have a majorly important piece by @peteapps.bsky.social today about the risk of scaffolding fires in the UK, with fresh revelations about the Spectrum fire in Dagenham last year >>

www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/from...

Should we be more worried about scaffolding fires in occupied buildings? In the aftermath of the deadly Wang Fuk fire in Hong Kong, focus turned to bamboo scaffolding. But scaffolding in the UK can pose a fire risk as well.

Long read here: www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/from...

News report here:
www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/spectru...

- The building also had combustible polystyrene panels beneath windows
- Fire risk assessments had identified internal defects serious enough to result in an LFB enforcement notice. These included 'break glass' alarm points which weren't actually connected to any alarm system.

- Scaffolding carried the blaze up the building to the top floors - which were timber framed, added when the former office was converted to residential. There was a timber decked roof garden and solar PV array. The fire penetrated this structure and was hard to extinguish

- The wind then drove this fire to the scaffolding, and it was fierce enough to ignite the dense timber boards, which were very dry after weeks of sunny weather

- A very fierce fire started in a nursery playground on the ground floor. Like all buildings with commercial and residential - they had separate fire risk assessments

New: following events in Hong Kong, I've been looking again at the Spectrum fire in Dagenham in 2024. The LFB's investigation report, fire risk assessments to the building and its EWS1 assessment produce some concerning conclusions

When London floods: “If you have vulnerable people living in basement flats, there's a huge risk” No one knows exactly how many basement flats there are in London, or where they are located. And surface water flooding, like rain, can happen anywhere. It’s unpredictable, fast and a threat to life. ...

Something we need to talk more about: the risk to basement flats in London from the growing threat of surface water flooding.

Long read here for The Developer:

www.thedeveloper.live/reportage/wh...

Question and answer special in the Substack today, where I tackle the following questions from readers:

peteapps.substack.com/p/question-a...

Hong Kong's horror fire:

peteapps.substack.com/p/hong-kongs...

Reliance is placed on “an unsuitable and insufficient fire risk assessment prepared by a scaffold contractor”. Obviously not saying a Hong Kong style incident is possible or likely - I simply don't know. But worth asking how safe we are and what we could do to remove the risk

The whistle-blower warned of “numerous residential buildings operating 'stay put' procedures undergoing works that have scaffolding formed of timber boards with plastic wrapping which could present a medium for fire spread” and warned that the guidance on this issue was “not fit for purpose”.

The potential impact of scaffolding on fire safety An issue has been raised with CROSS regarding the risk assessment process when scaffolding is present around an in-use building. It is considered that combustible scaffolding elements can potentially ...

Amid the disturbing images from Hong Kong, I'd draw attention to this report from the anonymous reporting service for the construction sector which raises concern about the use of combustible scaffolding systems on buildings with a 'stay put' strategy

www.cross-safety.org/uk/safety-in...

Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - October 2025 The 96th monthly data release regarding building safety remediation.

I'm getting the figures from the link below, using the midrange estimate.

The entire thrust of the interview is how the BSR might fix its structural issues and become an effective regulator doing a good job.

www.gov.uk/government/p...

There are more than 4,000 buildings in the 11m to 18m basket which need expensive remediation. The question should be how to get the BSR timescales down (which Roe addresses at length) not saying "ooh, isn't regulation silly, why do we need it" in midst of a pretty unprecedented build quality crisis

And while the BSR process has not worked brilliantly, that change was always going to be some version of "sort out design and compliance before you start building". Which was always going to result in delay, but may moves us forward to a point where we don't botch more than half the blocks we build

Given the scale of failure in terms of badly built blocks in the 2000s and 2010s, surely some change was needed though? Leaving aside the human cost, the bill for fixing them is £16.6bn, and the economic consequences have been vast (from flat sales falling through, diverted funds from new build etc)

BSR chair Andy Roe on the future of the regulator The Building Safety Regulator raised eyebrows over the summer when it appointed two former leaders of the London Fire Brigade to senior positions. Peter Apps meets them to ask what comes next.

Full interview in IH here: www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-...