Garage Watch

Background

• March 2015, HFRS was called to reports of a garage on fire in Errington Close, Hatfield

• The firefighting crew arrived and immediately dealt with what was a “routine” garage fire

• However as crews gained access, it became clear that someone had been living within the garage

• Unfortunately one person was declared deceased at the scene due to the fire

Unusual Design

Front Rear

Response• It is not fully known if the deceased person had

rented the garage to live within or they were rough sleeping

• HFRS needed to respond to the fatality by investigating the cause of fire and develop a targeted prevention strategy

• Key questions were:• Are there any other persons living within garages?• If so, how many are there and how much of a

problem is it?

• A plan was implemented to carry out investigations around known high risk areas such as:

• High HMO concentrated areas• Large garage plots• The answer to the questions was:• There are people living with garages

and it is a big problem

Investigation Findingsthe three issues

1. Garages had been found which are rented for accommodation as part of HMO housing stock

2. HFRS had found a large amount of rough sleeping within garages and other outdoor locations

3. HMO “landlord dumps” and fly tipping adding fuel to arson within Hatfield and possibly encouraging rough sleeping

Garage Houses

• Pressures on housing stock and the profit to be made have lead to a national increase of persons living within outbuildings and garages

• These are often below standard and do not meet building control regulations or fire safety standards

National Examples

Shed in a house Converted shed in garden

source: www.telegraph.co.uk

£530pm

source: www.guardian.com

£1080pm

Errington Close

Signs of living within garage Rear door sealed close

Discovered post fatal incident

Homelessness

Homelessness is dealt with at a borough level via:

Welwyn Hatfield Homeless Prevention Forum

Are aware of 6-10 persons rough sleeping within Hatfield

HOWEVER

“there is a hardcore element of eastern European rough sleepers in and around Welwyn

Hatfield, who have refused to engage with us previously and in some cases they are taking the

active decision to sleep rough as they wish to generate income from work and send it home

without paying rent”

A414 – July 2015

A closer look

Storage of belongingsBedding

Common Rough Sleeping Indicators

Food/Cooking

Smoking

Alcohol

Drugs

Faeces/Biowaste

Dog Kennel Lane October 2015 - Hatfield

Dog Kennel Lane October 2015 - Hatfield

Dog Kennel Lane June 2015 - Hatfield

smoking

alcoholbedding

Arm and Sword Lane July 2015 - Hatfield

bedding

food

belongings

alcohol

faeces

Hillcrest June 2015 - Hatfield

alcohol

smoking

bedding

drugs

food

Garden Avenue June 2015 - Hatfield

FactorsMany of the locations have the same factors which lead to the fatality at Errington Close

Alcohol Drugs Smoking Cooking Candles Biowaste Bedding

Are these locations related to Economic Rough Sleeping?

Associated Issues

Non secure sites High rate of arson – 6 this year at Garden

Avenue

Drugs and sharps

High rate of fly tipping from HMO’s enabling

arson and rough sleeping

Dereliction Hazmat

Landlord Dumps

• HMO population of Hatfield is heavily student based

• Landlord dumps appear around Hatfield all year round although there is a peak in the summer

• Landlords are flytipping their material from their properties to remove the cost of disposal

Furzen Crescent August 2015 - Hatfield

Is it beyond reason that the flytipped material from HMO properties is not only anti-social and enables

arson, but it also enables rough sleeping?

FACTS• Hatfield has one of the greatest concentrations of

HMO’s in the UK• You are six times more likely to die in a fire if you

live in any house in multiple occupation (HMO), compared with a single family house

• The risk increases to sixteen times more at risk of fatal injury if you live in an HMO which is 3 or more stories high

• Since April 2015 we have attended 10 fires within HMO’s, 11 fires within garages and a large amount of arson related fires around these high risk areas

What is the probability of another incident like Errington Close

happening again?

What are we doing?• The Garage Watch initiative has highlighted

some high risk areas of concern• The range of issues involved are highly complex

and require a truly multi-agency approach to solve

• Some issues may never truly be solved however the risk can be reduced

• HFRS is working with a number of agencies to reduce arson, reduce flytipping and help extremely vulnerable persons rough sleeping

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue ServiceHertfordshire Constabulary YMCAWelwyn Hatfield Housing TrustWelwyn Hatfield Private Sector Housing TeamWelwyn Hatfield Street WardensWelwyn Hatfield Garage DepartmentLandlords AssociationUniversity of HertfordshirePolish Community LeadersThe GalleriaResolve