News / Barton House
Council responds to residents’ report on ‘shock evacuation’
Bristol City Council has responded to a report shared by concerned residents and supporting groups regarding a “shock evacuation” and following concerns about structural issues within their tower block.
Hundreds of residents including families and young children were evacuated from their homes in Barton House in Barton Hill on November 14 2023. The council relocated the residents into temporary accommodation, including hotels in the city which residents have said were “undignified and unsafe”.
More than a year later a report compiling residents’ concerns, their ongoing traumas and anxiety and a string of recommendations was shared published in February 2025, with assistance from ACORN and Medact Bristol.
is needed now More than ever
In their response to this report, the council has emphasised their “duty of care” and endeavour to support the Barton House residents.
The 15-storey Barton House was built in 1958 and contains 98 flats – photo: Martin Booth
Responding to the concerns of structural issues still persistent within the tower block, the response on behalf of councillor Barry Parsons stated: “It is important to state that the council would not have moved residents back into Barton House if the flats were unsafe.
“Several safety measures – including a centralised fire alarm system and fireproofing of the building’s steel frame – were put in place before residents were allowed to return.
“The recommendations made in the survey reports were followed, completed, and approved, by Avon Fire and Rescue Service prior to residents moving back into Barton House.”
In the report, residents also outlined three major recommendations that could effectively put their plight to an end. This included rehousing of families who did not feel safe living Barton House, a public apology to the families for the way the crisis was handled, compensation to residents for the distress and costs incurred by the evacuation and an independent investigation into Bristol City Council’s handling of the crisis and publication of any relevant findings.
On the report’s recommendation for rehousing of families, the response highlighted Bristol remaining in the “grip of a housing crisis” with over 22,000 households currently on the waiting list. They added: “We will look at how we prioritise households who need to move due to the impact of unforeseen circumstances, and how we consider the additional needs of residents who have had to leave their home for a period of time because of an emergency.
“Any proposed changes will be subject to consultation, which we aim to launch at the end of May, so we can ensure that people who will be affected by the changes have an opportunity to input.
“This will be a citywide consultation as these circumstances may also apply elsewhere in the city, so we need to make sure all residents are being treated equally and fairly, and we will be inviting all council housing tenants to have their say.”
Barton House residents were constantly seeing protesting against the incident after the evacuation – photo: Blaise Cloran
The council also offered in-person meetings to Barton House residents so their housing application could be discussed in greater detail and personal fire risk assessments for residents in high-rise blocks with greater vulnerabilities.
Upholding the residents’ recommendation for an apology, Parsons emphasised that he was sorry, re-iterating a public apology he issued during a recent meeting between the residents and council where this report was shared. He further added that they have “learnt valuable lessons” on how to handle such a crisis in the future.
The council and Parsons however denied the residents’ recommendation for compensation as “all associated evacuation costs were covered at the time”. According to the council, the costs covered accommodation, food, transport, bus passes, laundry service and more. He urged people to provide “evidence of additional costs” that will then be considered on an individual basis. It was also emphasised that any action and effort taken by the council during the evacuation was with advice and guidance from organisations like Nilaari, The Barton Hill Settlement and the Somali Resource Centre.
It was agreed that the circumstances leading to the evacuation need to be looked at and an independent organisation would be reviewing this, along with actions and experiences on the day of evacuation and the subsequent weeks. It was clarified that the organisation conducting this review would work collectively with the council, impacted residents and other stakeholders intending to get the review underway toward the end of the summer.
Residents were housed in temporary accommodation including hotels like Holiday Inn in the city centre – photo: Mia Vines Booth
Addressing other concerns shared in the reports about damp and mould, physical inaccessibility due to non-functional lifts, and other maintenance issues, the response illustrated: “More recently, a huge effort has been made to get to grips with areas of maintenance across the estate that we have fallen behind on. Across the city, working with health partners, we have made tackling damp and mould a priority.
“In Barton House we have contacted all residents who have reported issues with damp and mould, and we are working to inspect and treat the issues. We have asked all residents at Barton House to contact us if they have any problems with damp and mould and have issued advice leaflets to all homes. We are also looking at the possibility of a programme to improve ventilation in the block.
“We are aware that there was an increase in lift breakdowns in Barton House and this is partly because of the presence of workers on site leaving dirt in the tracks, but also due to heavy use during the evacuation works.
“Back in December the housing team asked a lift engineer from Stannah to spend two days onsite inspecting the lifts, looking at the reasons for the increase in these issues, and since then reliability has improved and we have had no repair calls.
“The safety and wellbeing of residents is our number one priority, and we are committed to improving standards in all our homes across the city.
“Again, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the residents of Barton House for the distress caused by having to leave their homes and the doubt and uncertainty they faced in the following weeks. Our door remains open to continue this conversation, and we will be looking to further involve residents in our re-housing consultations.”
The entire response will be hand-delivered to residents of Barton House with translated versions available online.
Main photo: Karen Johnson
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
