It should come as no surprise that the UK is currently facing a housing shortage. With affordable homes in short supply and demand for social housing on the rise, many people are struggling to take their first step on the property ladder, as prices rise because of supply failing to meet demand.

To tackle this problem, the Prime Minister announced a new house building initiative in January, with the government set to fast-track construction by putting forward a £1.2bn starter home fund which will be used to prepare underused publicly owned brownfield sites for the construction of new housing.

By making use of these smaller sites, the Government is opening the door to smaller housebuilders who might previously have been shut out of the market.

While bringing in smaller housebuilders provides a number of advantages, including allowing homes to be built more quickly than if just relying on large firms and providing SMEs with stable, guaranteed work, there are also some concerns which must be looked at from a fire safety standpoint.

Larger developers often have existing relationships with fire engineers, making them well aware of the various fire safety systems on the market, and the advantages that they can bring to a project. Unfortunately, smaller businesses might not know of the benefits of taking this approach, or may feel that it is either too expensive or not relevant for their line of work.

However, as more emphasis is put on these companies to meet the same demands faced by their larger counterparts, there can’t be any excuse for not providing the same standard of safety for future residents.

Though this might be a be a new experience for some firms, Be Safe Direct offers all of the products and systems that you might need. What’s more, our experienced technical advisors can work alongside contractors, specifiers, consultants and architects to identify the needs of a project, and suggest systems which will provide the most appropriate level of fire safety possible while also maximising space and reducing costs.

For more information on Be Safe Direct’s wide range of products and systems, visit: https://www.besafedirect.com/