Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate has made of the (a) number of new buildings each year that will be required to fit sprinklers in the event that the height threshold for sprinklers is reduced to 11 metres and (b) cost to developers of that work.

We estimate that reducing the sprinkler height threshold from 30 metres to 18 metres as a requirement in new build blocks of flats will mean 1,970 new builds fitting sprinkler systems over 10 years, with an annual cost of between £27 million to £38 million. Reducing the height threshold further to, for example, 11 metres would mean 15,940 new buildings fitting systems over 10 years, with an annual cost of between £136 million and £193 million. A full impact assessment will be published alongside any future announcements.