What causes fires in accommodation blocks — and how to prevent them
The causes of fires in residential accommodation are well-documented. Cooking, electrical faults, arson, and smoking materials account for the overwhelming majority of incidents across the country — and each of them is, to a meaningful degree, preventable. What turns a small fire into a major incident is rarely one failure in isolation: it is the combination of an ignition source, a combustible environment, and gaps in the management arrangements that should contain it.
For responsible persons under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 — which includes managing agents, freeholders, and landlords operating accommodation blocks — understanding the common causes is only part of the picture. The more useful exercise is mapping those causes to the control measures that a well-maintained building should already have in place, and identifying where the gaps are.
Cooking: the single largest cause
Cooking-related fires account for a greater proportion of residential fires than any other cause. In accommodation blocks, the risk is compounded by density: where twenty or thirty flats share a building, the statistical likelihood of a cooking fire occurring in any given month is substantially higher than in a detached house. Unattended hobs, overheated oils, and misused appliances are the most frequent culprits, and none of them are exotic or unusual — they are the product of ordinary domestic behaviour.
The relevant question for responsible persons is not whether a cooking fire will ever occur, but what happens when it does. Compartmentation is the principal means of containment: each flat should function as a fire-resisting enclosure, capable of holding a fire for long enough to allow evacuation and the arrival of the fire service. That depends on the integrity of fire doors, the condition of penetration seals around service routes, and the absence of any unauthorised alterations to the fabric of the building. Where any of these are compromised, a fire that should remain within a single flat can — and does — spread.
Electrical faults and appliance fires
Electrical fires in residential blocks arise from a range of sources: faulty wiring, overloaded circuits, ageing appliances, and — increasingly — the charging of lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters. The latter category has attracted growing attention from the fire service, and for good reason: lithium-ion battery fires burn at extreme temperatures, are resistant to conventional suppression, and can develop rapidly from a smouldering fault to a fully involved fire. Buildings that permit the storage or charging of such devices in common areas, or that lack clear guidance to residents on the subject, are carrying a risk that is not yet fully reflected in many existing fire risk assessments.
Responsible persons should ensure that fire risk assessments address electrical safety explicitly, including the question of e-bike and e-scooter storage, and that any recommendations around periodic electrical installation inspection are being followed through. A fire risk assessment that treats electrical risk as a standard checkbox item — rather than engaging with the specific profile of the building and its occupants — is not giving the responsible person the information they need.
Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, responsible persons for multi-occupied residential buildings must carry out monthly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of all flat entrance doors. The condition of these doors is not a maintenance question in isolation — it is a legal requirement, and it directly determines how effectively the building contains a fire in its early stages.
Arson and deliberate ignition
Arson is among the leading causes of fires in multi-occupancy residential buildings, and common areas — bin stores, stairwells, car parks, and entrance lobbies — are the most frequent locations. The risk is greatest where access to the building is poorly controlled, where combustible materials are allowed to accumulate in common areas, and where lighting and visibility are poor. A building that stores recycling and waste in an unprotected enclosure adjacent to the main entrance, or that has a communal area used informally for storing furniture or personal belongings, is presenting an arsonist with an easy target in a location where the consequences for the building and its residents can be severe.
Good housekeeping in common areas is not a peripheral concern: it is a material fire safety control. Responsible persons should ensure that waste storage arrangements are reviewed as part of the fire risk assessment, that combustible items are not permitted to accumulate in stairwells or corridors, and that access control arrangements are proportionate to the building's risk profile.
Smoking materials
Fires caused by smoking materials — particularly discarded cigarettes — remain a persistent source of incidents in residential buildings. The risk is concentrated in areas where smoking is not prohibited outright, and where no designated and properly managed smoking provision exists outside the building. Where residents smoke on balconies or in common areas, the risk of a discarded cigarette igniting a fire in or around the building is real and ongoing.
No-smoking policies in common areas should be reflected in leases and communicated clearly to residents, alongside practical provision for safe smoking outside the building where appropriate. This is an area where the connection between building management practice and fire risk is direct and well-established.
The building fabric: cladding and compartmentation
The Dagenham fire sits within a pattern that has been visible since Grenfell in 2017: buildings with non-compliant external cladding remain a serious and in some cases unresolved risk across the country. At the time of the Freshwater Road fire, Spectrum House was in the process of having its high-pressure laminate cladding removed and replaced with A1-rated material. It caught fire before that process was complete. The London Fire Commissioner noted that the building had a number of known fire safety issues; the Fire Brigades Union described the situation as a national scandal.
The cladding remediation programme has been slow. As of mid-2025, around half of the buildings identified with unsafe cladding following Grenfell had yet to begin remediation works. For responsible persons managing affected buildings, the legal and moral position is clear: if a building has known cladding issues, those issues cannot simply be deferred. Where interim protective measures — enhanced evacuation procedures, waking watch arrangements, additional fire detection — are required while remediation is under way, they need to be in place and properly managed.
Beyond cladding, the condition of compartmentation within the building fabric — particularly flat entrance doors, which are required to achieve FD30S fire resistance as a minimum — is the most critical factor in determining how a fire develops once it starts. A fire door that has been damaged, that does not self-close properly, or that has unsealed gaps around the frame provides meaningfully less protection than a compliant door. In a building where a fire starts in a kitchen and spreads to a communal stairwell because the flat entrance door failed to hold, the consequences fall directly on the residents and on the responsible person.
Incident footage
Dagenham, August 2024: the fire at Spectrum House on Freshwater Road, where non-compliant cladding was still being removed at the time of the fire. The London Fire Brigade declared a major incident; more than 225 firefighters attended.
What a well-managed building looks like
The causes of fire in accommodation blocks are not mysterious, and neither are the controls. A building that is being managed well against fire risk will have a current and site-specific fire risk assessment, carried out by a competent assessor, that reflects the actual condition of the building and the behaviour of its occupants — not a generic template applied without proper inspection. Its fire doors will be subject to regular inspection: communal doors monthly, flat entrance doors annually, in line with the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Common areas will be kept clear of combustible materials. Residents will have received fire safety information covering what to do in the event of a fire, the building's evacuation strategy, and any specific risks relevant to the building.
For managing agents carrying out the responsible person role on behalf of freeholders or right-to-manage companies, the practical challenge is often one of coordination: ensuring that the obligations that fall on the responsible person are being discharged systematically, documented properly, and reviewed when circumstances change. That includes changes to the building's occupancy profile, any significant works, and the introduction of new risks such as the widespread adoption of e-bikes by residents.
The incidents at Worcester Park and the more recent fires in Wembley and on Edgware Road in early 2025 are reminders that accommodation block fires are not confined to the high-profile cases. Smaller residential buildings — conversions, houses in multiple occupation, low-rise purpose-built blocks — carry many of the same risks, and in some cases fewer of the automatic protections that larger and more recently constructed buildings may have. The HMO sector in particular has a specific and well-developed set of fire safety obligations that operators need to understand and comply with consistently.
We carry out fire risk assessments, fire door inspections, and fire safety training for managing agents, landlords, and responsible persons across Chester, Cheshire, the Wirral, and the wider North West. If your building's fire risk assessment is out of date, or if you have concerns about compartmentation or fire door compliance, please get in touch.
Speak to Fletcher Risk Management
We work with responsible persons across Chester, Cheshire, the Wirral, Merseyside, and North Wales on fire risk assessments, fire door inspections, and fire safety training. If you manage an accommodation block and want to understand whether your current arrangements are adequate, please get in touch.
This article is intended for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. Fire safety obligations vary depending on the nature of the building, its occupancy, and applicable legislation. Responsible persons should seek competent professional advice specific to their premises. Fletcher Risk Management Ltd is a fire safety consultancy, not a legal practice.