I came across this recent article relating to halls of residence which is billed as a land mark case.
Can any one provide more detail as to the design? They sound a bit like Houses in Multiple occupation rather than flats, particularly if they share the cooking areas, and are not a single family.
The implications could be interesting if domestic flats fire safety standards are applies.
News Article
LANDMARK court ruling involving a Yorkshire law firm has clarified the way fire safety regulations are implemented at tens of thousands of student flats across the UK.
District Judge Shamim A Qureshi’s ruling that the design of student accommodation by provider Victoria Hall, which was represented by York-based Denison Till, means they are classed as domestic homes rather than halls of residence and has averted a change in fire safety strategy for similar flats nationwide.
Isle of Man-based Victoria Hall, which has an office in Sheffield, called technical advice from Carillion Specialist Services in Leeds in its appeal against enforcement notices from West Midlands Fire Service regarding its student accommodation in Selly Oak, Birmingham, which has a design replicated at other UK sites.
Denison Till partner Jonathan Cripwell said: “This case arose because of the designation by West Midlands Fire Service of the building as a traditional 'hall of residence’ and applying fire safety strategy to that design rather than to the design of a modern, self-contained block of flats which is built in a fundamentally different way in terms of fire safety strategy.”
The enforcement notices, requesting that smoke detectors were placed in all the private bedrooms and that additional seals were added to doors, followed a fire started by a toaster at the Birmingham flats in January 2008.
A requested improvement to ducts between the floors was carried out without dispute.
West Midlands Fire Service said the flats, occupied by four or five students each with their own private room, were classed as halls of residence, meaning they were under certain fire regulations, while Victoria Hall and Denison Till argued that the flats were domestic premises and the fire service had no authority to impose additional fire safety measures on them.
Expert witness evidence for Victoria Hall at Birmingham Magistrates Court came from Carillion Specialist Services which is government-licensed to give building regulations approval for construction projects and carry out fire risk assessments.
West Midlands Fire Service argued that the buildings’ design did not alter the fact that they were classed as halls of residence.
Denison Till argued that the students occupied the flats as a 'domestic dwelling’ and cooked, ate, drank, relaxed and slept there. The hearing also heard that some students stay in their accommodation throughout the holidays, Christmas and Easter as their main residence.
Victoria Hall has 12 student accommodation sites throughout the UK and Europe.
Victoria Hall's Sheffield-based national operations manager, John Ripley, said: “This significant judgment directly affects our other student accommodation in Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and elsewhere and thousands of other student flats throughout the UK."
West Midlands fire Service is not to appeal against the judgment.
