What is a Residential PEEP?
One of the most significant recent changes in residential fire safety took effect on 6 April 2026. The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 introduced new duties intended to improve fire-safety arrangements for residents who may have difficulty evacuating independently during a fire. For housing providers, landlords, managing agents and Responsible Persons, this is an important development.
Residential PEEP is shorthand for a residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan process. It is designed for relevant residents whose physical, sensory or cognitive circumstances may mean they cannot evacuate independently in an emergency. The regulations introduced a person-centred approach rather than simply applying the model traditionally used for workplace PEEPs.
Which buildings are affected?
Government and Fire and Rescue Service guidance explains that the duties apply to specified residential buildings in England, including buildings:
- At least 18 metres or seven storeys above ground level; or
- Over 11 metres where a simultaneous evacuation strategy is in place.
Responsible Persons should refer to the Regulations and government guidance when determining whether a particular building falls within scope.
What do Responsible Persons have to do?
The new framework includes duties relating to:
- Identifying relevant residents
- Offering person-centred fire risk assessments
- Considering reasonable and proportionate risk-mitigation measures
- Agreeing emergency evacuation statements with participating residents
- Reviewing those arrangements
- Sharing specified information with the local Fire and Rescue Authority where the required conditions, including consent provisions, are met
- Preparing building emergency evacuation plans
Why person-centred risk assessment matters
Two residents living in the same building may face very different evacuation challenges. Relevant factors may include:
- Mobility
- Vision
- Hearing
- Cognitive impairment
- Ability to use stairs
- Use of mobility equipment
- Understanding of alarms
- Availability of suitable mitigation
The process should consider the individual’s circumstances and what reasonable, proportionate measures can be introduced, rather than adding a name to a list.
This is also a management issue
Residential PEEPs connect with wider fire-safety management. Responsible Persons may need to consider how the process interacts with:
- Fire Risk Assessments
- Building emergency plans
- Fire doors
- Escape routes
- Information provided to residents
- Data protection
- Fire and Rescue Service liaison
- Record keeping
- Periodic review
This reinforces the wider principle that modern fire safety increasingly requires coordinated management rather than isolated compliance documents.
Residential PEEPs and workplace PEEPs are not identical
Government guidance specifically distinguishes the new residential arrangements from traditional workplace-style PEEPs.
Workplace PEEPs often rely upon staff and organisational resources to help evacuate individuals before Fire and Rescue Service attendance. The residential model was developed to reflect the different practical circumstances of residential buildings.
Responsible Persons should therefore avoid simply copying an office PEEP form and assuming it meets the residential requirements.
What should housing providers do now?
Organisations responsible for affected buildings should ensure that they have:
- Identified whether buildings fall within scope
- Allocated responsibility
- Established a process for identifying potentially relevant residents
- Put appropriate person-centred assessment arrangements in place
- Established review mechanisms
- Considered data-protection requirements
- Integrated residential evacuation planning into wider fire-safety arrangements
The government has also published a Responsible Persons toolkit to help organisations consider measures that can support vulnerable residents, including outside the strict scope of the Residential PEEP regime.
A wider lesson for fire safety
The introduction of Residential PEEPs reinforces an important principle: fire safety is ultimately about people, not buildings.
Fire alarms, doors, compartmentation and evacuation procedures only achieve their purpose when they address the needs of the people who may rely upon them.
Stanford Global Limited supports organisations with Fire Risk Assessments, fire-safety management planning, training, auditing and related fire-safety compliance services.
