Residential PEEPs explained: evacuation plans for residents of blocks of flats

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry's first report recommended that owners and managers of high-rise blocks be required by law to prepare personal emergency evacuation plans for residents who may not be able to leave on their own. It also recommended that they share that information with the fire and rescue service. After consultations, the government chose a residential version, designed for homes rather than workplaces.

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 were laid on 4 July 2025, and came into force on 6 April 2026. They apply in England only.

The regulations cover any building with two or more homes that is at least 18 metres high, or has at least seven storeys. They also cover buildings over 11 metres high that have a simultaneous evacuation strategy, where everyone leaves at once rather than staying put. Height is measured to the top storey, as Approved Document B, Appendix D sets out, and storeys below ground don't count.

The duties fall on the responsible person under the Fire Safety Order, usually the building owner or manager. A relevant resident is someone whose only or main home is in the building, and whose ability to get out without help is affected by a physical or cognitive impairment or condition. That could be limited mobility, a sight or hearing impairment, or a condition affecting understanding.

Nothing happens without the resident's consent: they choose whether to take part, whether to agree a plan, and whether their details go to the fire service.

The process has five steps. First, use reasonable endeavours to identify relevant residents. Second, offer each one a person-centred fire risk assessment: a conversation about their own risks and how they would get out.

Third, discuss measures to reduce those risks, and put in place the ones that are reasonable and proportionate. Fourth, try to agree what the resident should do in a fire, write it down as an emergency evacuation statement, and give them a copy. Fifth, review it at least every 12 months, sooner if something changes, or if the resident asks.

Who pays for a measure affects whether it is reasonable and proportionate. The cost might fall to the responsible person, to the resident, or, where the measure benefits most residents, to everyone through the service charge. If the resident would have to pay and chooses not to, the measure doesn't have to go in.

The responsible person makes the final decision, the rules don't override leaseholders' rights, and some measures may qualify for a means-tested disabled facilities grant.

With the resident's explicit consent, the responsible person must share four pieces of information with the local fire and rescue authority. They are the flat number, the floor number, a short note of how much help the resident may need to get out, and whether they have an emergency evacuation statement. The fire service decides how it wants the information.

Digital sharing is preferred. If it wants paper copies on site, the responsible person must provide a secure information box to hold them.

Every building in scope also needs a building emergency evacuation plan. It must include a copy of the fire instructions given to residents, confirm whether any relevant residents live there, and describe any other arrangements, such as an evacuation alert system. The plan goes to the fire and rescue authority, and into the secure information box if there is one, and it is reviewed at least every 12 months.

Fire and rescue authorities enforce these duties under the Fire Safety Order.