Barton House: Council aware of weaknesses a year before evacuation

Barton House was declared unsafe by Bristol City Council in November

Structural issues had been reported to a council over a year before residents were evacuated from their tower block homes in an emergency evacuation.

Barton House, a 14-storey tower block in Bristol, was evacuated in November, after structural concerns were raised.

Bristol City Council had been told about the issues in a report over a year earlier in August 2022.

Staff thought they could "mitigate" the risks before engineers reviewed the report and called for the evacuation.

A written response to a public question at a full council meeting on 9 January revealed the council knew about structural issues at Barton House.

The government wrote a letter to councils in 2017 urging them to check their large-panel system buildings, after large cracks appeared on tower blocks in London built in the same way, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

The council commissioned a report into the building which they received in August.

'Significantly escalated'

The council said: "This report was received in August 2022. This report flagged structural issues at Barton House.

"On receipt of the report, Bristol officers determined that the risks presented could be mitigated.

"Indeed, at the time there were already mitigations in place, including no piped gas supply to flats and a waking watch in place.

"In November 2023, this report was peer-reviewed by Arup which significantly escalated the structural risks at Barton House."

A freedom of information request for the report has been refused, according the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council said it will be published online once the final report from the latest building survey has been completed.

Residents of the building are not yet back in their homes after having been told they can return this month.

Some residents have raised concerns over returning to the building.

The council was asked to comment.

High Rise Housing: Forced to Leave

If you want to find out more about the Bristol tower block residents evacuated from their homes due to safety concerns watch 'High Rise Housing: Forced to Leave' now on BBC iPlayer (UK only).