With property prices so high in London, it has become commercially attractive for those that can afford it to extend their house downwards by excavating larger basements. They are dubbed 'iceberg houses' because there may be more below ground than above.
However, it now appears that one-in-three of these luxury bunkers is being built with reckless disregard to the safety of the builders.
HSE inspectors made unannounced visits to 110 domestic basement extension sites in posh parts of the capital last month. It served 50 prohibition notices and stopped work at 34 sites. Poor excavation or structural support was found to be a recurrent problem, along with unsafe working at height, which is perhaps ironic for sites below ground-level.
The inspectors also visited 291 other sites during the month-long blitz. Of these 59 sites failed to meet approved safety standards – a failure rate of 20%, compared to the basement failure rate of 31%.
Three wealthy boroughs were targeted for basement extension sites: Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham.
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