Gentoo Group has announced a £2.4 million investment into building safety to ensure their tenants are safe in their homes.
The investment includes the creation of a new building safety team, led by Gentoo’s Head of Health, Safety and Environment, Gemma Darville, to meet the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022, which was published following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017.
The new team will be working closely with colleagues from across the organisation including property maintenance, property investment and housing, to have a collaborative approach to building safety. They’ll also be engaging with tenants living in the Group’s high-rise residential buildings and developing safety cases to demonstrate to the Building Safety Regulator that each building is safe to occupy.
Gemma Darville, Head of Health, Safety and Environment at Gentoo, said: “Building safety is a big priority at Gentoo and by creating a new team that will work closely across the organisation, we’re committed to making sure our tenants are safe in their homes.”
The approach will ensure tenants are at the forefront of decision making in each building and tenants are encouraged to raise building safety queries and concerns.
The Group has already invested £1.8million on building safety over the last financial year to ensure their 2,000 tenants in their 25 high rise residential buildings in Sunderland are safe in their homes, with a further £2.4million to be invested this financial year.
Stephen Flounders, Director of Risk and Assurance at Gentoo, said: “We’re delighted to have a new team that are dedicated to building safety. With the creation of the team, we are now working closely with other parts of the organisation, our tenants and the housing sector to deliver best practice and provide safe homes for our tenants.”
Gentoo use their knowledge and expertise to share best practice across the Housing sector on building safety and regularly engage in round table discussions and webinars with other industry experts. Anyone who would like to contact the team can email buildingsafety@gentoogroup.com
