Fire doors to be paid for by ex-council homeowners

Tenants of council properties will not have to pay themselves, the authority said

Leaseholders living in ex-council properties will have to pay for new fire doors which are to be installed as part of a safety upgrade.

Kirklees Council is set to replace 11,447 fire doors at 870 of its sites, after a review found many did not have reliable fire safety certification.

Tenants will have the work done for free, but those who bought properties from the council will pay themselves.

The council said the cost would be anywhere from £500 to £1,200 per door.

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The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the purchase of the doors alone could exceed £13m, but no figure is available for installation.

It said the money to pay for the improvements, mandated in the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy, will come from rent revenue.

The council will initially pay for the work then look to recover costs from leaseholders or private landlords.

Council staff said a lack of reliable certification meant fire doors installed all across the borough over a nine-year period from 2003 to 2012 had to be removed and replaced.

The authority has also said it is trialling the use of injunctions in order to force people to accept new doors.

It requires permission to enter private properties to carry out inspections or improvements, but if that is refused it may seek to apply for an order from a judge under the Environmental Protection Act.