Your fire and building safety newsletter
Find out more about any planned improvement work in your building and important fire and safety updates.
North towers update
We want to share an update on planned improvement work across the North Towers buildings. This project focuses on upgrading windows and other external elements to help make homes warmer, more comfortable and more energy efficient.
What’s happening?
We are developing plans to improve the windows across the North Towers. These improvements are designed to reduce heat loss and help homes stay warmer, particularly in living rooms.
Why are the windows being replaced?
Many residents have told us that their living rooms feel cold. We’ve identified that the lower panels of the current living room windows are not insulated, which allows heat to escape. To address this, we plan to replace the living room window units with new, better insulated systems. We are also looking to replace the remaining windows in homes where needed, to provide a consistent upgrade across each building.
Which buildings are included?
The project covers the following North Towers buildings:
- Church Street North
- Dock Street
- Dame Dorothy Crescent
- Victor Street
- Zetland Square
- Eglinton Tower
- Devonshire Tower
What improvements are planned?
We are planning a range of improvements to boost comfort, safety and energy performance. These include:
- New aluminium living room window systems
- Replacement of remaining uPVC windows
- External decoration
- Improvements to flat roofs, including better insulation
- Repairs to cladding and external render
What options were considered?
We explored whether insulated panels could be fitted internally to the living room windows. This option would have avoided the need for scaffolding and could have been delivered more quickly. However, detailed assessments showed that this approach could trap moisture inside the walls. This would increase the risk of condensation, damp and mould, so this option was ruled out to avoid future problems for residents.
Where we are now
At the moment, we are:
- Continuing detailed design work
- Preparing to appoint the design team
- Working with our Procurement Team to appoint a Principal Contractor
Start dates may change depending on budget approval and the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway process. Based on current plans, we expect:
- Dock Street: work to begin in 2027–2028
- Church Street North: work to begin in 2028–2029
We'll share more detailed timelines as soon as they are confirmed.
An update on Lambton, Londonderry and Lumley Towers (3Ls)
We want to keep you informed about work taking place across the city and to reassure you about what this means for your home.
As previously shared, we are continuing to support customers living in Lambton, Londonderry and Lumley Towers (3Ls) to move into new homes ahead of the planned demolition of those buildings. This is progressing well, and more than 80% of customers in these buildings have now moved out, or found a new home and will be moving in the coming months.
This work is specific to the 3Ls only and does not affect any other high-rise building.
Contractors will be carrying out site inspections in the 3Ls in the coming weeks, as part of the preparation work, ahead of the planned demolition. These inspections will be carefully managed, and we will do everything we can to keep any disruption to customers in these buildings to a minimum.
Keeping flat entrance doors clear
As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping everyone safe, we would like to remind customers how important it is that your flat entrance door can close fully and freely. Your flat entrance door is a fire door and designed to self-close in the event of a fire, helping to prevent smoke and flames from spreading into escape routes and neighbouring flats. This is a vital part of the building’s fire safety measures.
During recent routine inspections, we have noticed that some newly installed thick-pile carpets or heavy underlay in hallways have prevented flat entrance doors from closing properly. It is important that the door can close and latch freely by having a clearance gap between the door and the carpet.
For this reason, please avoid installing thick-pile carpets or deep underlay around your flat entrance door.
You may be asked to remove or adjust your flooring to allow the door to operate correctly, if it is found to be causing an obstruction.
You must not alter or trim your flat entrance door to accommodate new flooring, as this would invalidate the door’s certification.
Thank you for helping us keep your home and your building safe. If you have any questions, please contact the Fire and Building Safety Team.
Free e-vehicle health checks
We have joined forces with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) and Mobility Care Solutions to provide vital e-vehicle health checks for our customers living in high-rise buildings and extra care schemes to ensure they are safe in their homes.
Health checks for e-bikes, e-scooters and mobility scooters are free of charge and carried out in your home. As part of the 15 minute appointment, the team will visually check the vehicle including its mechanical and electrical components and provide you with advice on safe storage and charging.
Most electric vehicles are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which can be charged at home. These batteries can start a fire and burn at extremely high temperatures.
These checks will help us spot any issues with electric vehicles before they become a potential fire hazard.
To help us keep your building safe, it’s important you tell us if you have an e-bike, e-scooter or mobility scooter so we can arrange to give it a health check.
If we have already health checked your vehicle in the last 12 months, you do not need to contact us again.
To book your free check please contact the Fire and Building Safety Team on 0191 525 5050 or fireandbuildingsafety@gentoogroup.com.
Building Safety Customer Group
Our Building Safety Customer Group discusses and consults on building safety matters in our high-rise residential buildings.
It is a voluntary group, made up of customers who live in our buildings or their nominated representatives. The group work with Gentoo and challenge decisions that affect building safety and how effective our communication is. We are accountable to this group.
The group meet every two months in one of our high-rise residential buildings or a Gentoo office. The group often take part in practical activities, meet Gentoo contractors and explore other buildings.Any customer who lives in one of our high-rise residential buildings is welcome to join the group. You can find out more information here.
If you would like to get involved, you can email fireandbuildingsafety@gentoogroup.com or speak to Stacey Thwaites, Building Safety Project Lead – Customer and Stakeholder Engagement directly on 07801 532 594 or 0191 525 5050.
Fire safety leaflet
You should have now received your annual fire safety leaflet. This contains important information about fire safety in your home and building.
Please take time to read through it. If you have any questions about the information in the leaflet, please contact the Fire and Building Safety Team on 0191 525 5050 or fireandbuildingsafety@gentoogroup.com