S08E01: What the Building Safety Act means for student accommodation

Grenfell Tower (2017). The Cube student accommodation fire, Bolton (2019). Two disasters that reshaped the landscape for building safety in student accommodation, and led to stringent new legislation in the Building Safety Act.

But what does the Building Safety Act actually mean for purpose-built student accommodation? How can we trust that students are safe in our buildings? And how can you make sure you’re compliant with the regulations? We’ve got you covered with our 40 minute deep-dive into the issue.

Our expert panel discusses the benefits and challenges thrown up by the Act, the practical stages of compliance, who’s accountable for what, what it all means for students, and what the future holds for building safety.

Hosted by Jenny Shaw, HE External Engagement Director at Unite Students, the panel includes:

• Ian Fletcher, Director of Policy at British Property Federation (BPF)
• Ian Bamforth, Head of Estates & Facilities at Unite Students
• Abi Yeo, Performance Quality & Systems Manager at Unite Students

Special guest Jo Blair, Head of Quality & Standards at Unite Students, also shares how we put together a resident engagement strategy to keep 70,000 students informed about building safety, as required by the Act. All of Unite Students' buildings are safe to live in.

Accommodation Matters brings together sector experts to discuss the Higher Education sector’s key issues through the lens of student accommodation. This episode was recorded on 9th February 2024 and produced by Ed Palmer.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are the personal views of individual guest speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Unite Students and/or Unite Group plc.

 

Resources

The British Property Federation’s Building Safety video series can be found at their YouTube channel.

Unipol are running an in-person training event called ‘Getting up to speed with the Building Safety Act’ on Thursday 29th February – find out more from the Unipol website.

Unite Students’ Home Charter is available on our student website, along with more information about the Building Safety Act and our resident engagement strategy.