By Thomas Roche, Secretary of Business Sprinkler Alliance
The fire that tore through Beechmere Retirement Village in Crewe in August 2019 remains one of the most devastating fire incidents involving vulnerable people in the UK in recent memory. The timber-framed, unsprinklered extra care facility housed 132 apartments for elderly and disabled residents. Although no lives were lost thanks to a swift evacuation effort, over 150 people lost their homes and with them, their independence and sense of community.
Since the 2019 blaze, the emotional, social and financial consequences of the fire are still being felt. The site remains undeveloped despite early pledges of a timely rebuild. Although planning permission for a new facility with sprinklers was approved years ago, construction has yet to begin. Residents had hoped a long-awaited trial at Chester Crown Court might offer answers and closure. But in early May, the case collapsed after Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service withdrew its prosecution of the four remaining firms. Six companies were originally charged, but two were dropped before trial, and the remaining four were cleared after the case was withdrawn.
This delay is about more than just rebuilding and the lack of closure. It highlights a regulatory blind spot that persists to this day: the lack of mandatory sprinkler protection in buildings such as Beechmere, which despite housing vulnerable residents, do not meet the legal definition of a care home.
Beechmere was classed as an extra care facility, specialised housing that sits in a grey area when it comes to fire safety. Unlike traditional care homes, extra care housing falls outside of the new regulatory requirements introduced in England and Northern Ireland mandating sprinklers in new care home settings. While these changes to Approved Document B (ADB) and Technical Booklet E are welcome, they do not go far enough. Vulnerable people living in assisted living, retirement villages, or other specialist accommodation are not afforded the same fire protection, even though their care needs and mobility levels may be very similar.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has long advocated for the use of sprinkler systems in specialised housing, and rightly so. Sprinklers control or extinguish fires early, often before the fire service arrives, minimising damage and reducing risk to life. They buy crucial time for evacuation or rescue and enhance building resilience, helping people stay in their homes. Yet, in the case of Beechmere, their absence left a vulnerable community exposed.
In the aftermath of the fire, Your Housing Group, which operated Beechmere and four other similar extra care schemes in Cheshire, allocated several million pounds for fire safety improvements. This included retrofitting sprinklers in those sister facilities, an action taken in collaboration with the local fire service. But these were reactive measures, taken only after disaster struck.
The Beechmere case raises serious questions about how fire safety regulations are applied in the real world. Should a building’s classification determine the level of protection it receives, or should the characteristics of the people inside it be the deciding factor?
The Business Sprinkler Alliance argues that the current regulatory divide is illogical. Vulnerability to fire doesn’t end where care home definitions do. Until all buildings housing vulnerable individuals are subject to the same rigorous fire safety measures, including sprinkler systems, tragedies like Beechmere remain possible.
It is now mid-2025 and the Beechmere site still lies dormant. Reports to Cheshire East Council suggest work could begin in 2026, with completion in 2027 or 2028, almost a decade after the fire. That’s too long to wait for homes, and far too long to leave a regulatory loophole unaddressed.
The BSA continues to call on government to expand mandatory sprinkler requirements to include all forms of accommodation for vulnerable people. A compassionate society protects its most at-risk members. Fire safety regulation should do the same.
