Inhabiting unsettlement: Living through building safety remediation works in England

Abstract

Internationally, a number of façade fires have highlighted significant safety problems in multi-storey residential buildings. England is an exemplar of this problem, with thousands of buildings requiring extensive remediation work to cladding systems and other areas. In many cases, this work will take place whilst homes are occupied. Although construction is an integral part of urban life, there has been little attention to the lived experience of building works. The article draws on interviews with 20 leaseholders in England affected by fire safety remediation works. The research highlights the unsettling of home as a safe, controllable, private sanctuary. First, home was disrupted by the sights and sounds of remediation work, the intrusion of noise and dirt and the shrouding of buildings in plastic sheeting. Then, workers with an orientation to the home as ‘building site’ eroded the boundaries of private space. Finally, a prolonged and unpredictable remediation process revealed the limited control of residents. The research draws attention to the neglected psychological costs of building works, revealing how a bundle of rights associated with ‘home’ are disrupted. The research has wider implications for the experience of ‘vertical’ building sites and the repair and retrofit of multi-storey buildings. Rather than a technical problem associated with building materials and construction, such work must draw on an understanding of home, foregrounding the experiences of residents.