Updated 22 July
A Prohibition Notice has today come into force at Beech and Willow Rise in Kirkby in response to serious fire safety concerns in both blocks, which are privately owned.
Residents discovered in May 2025 that the buildings’ management company no longer had the funds to carry out fire safety improvements or continue their ‘waking watch’, where a team of trained officers patrol the building 24/7 in the absence of a working fire alarm.
Without these measures, Merseyside Fire and Rescue had advised the buildings’ managers that they would have no option to Prohibit the buildings for the safety of the residents, meaning that everyone would need to immediately move out.
Both blocks are privately owned and comprise 160 flats, which are either privately owned or rented.
In order to give residents more time, Knowsley Council agreed to step in and provide a waking watch for an additional two months, giving residents more time to make arrangements for alternative accommodation. In those two months, the council worked on a daily basis to support residents at risk of homelessness to help secure temporary or permanent accommodation.
That waking watch came to an end on Monday, 21 July, and residents who have presented to the council as being in need of temporary accommodation have been assisted to identify alternative arrangements.
Any residents who have not yet made contact with the council with regard to their housing needs can still contact us for support, using the following details:
Knowsley Housing Solutions – for anyone at risk of homelessness
- Website: Housing Solutions
- Telephone: 0151 443 2333
- Email: housingsolutions@knowsley.gov.uk (Please include Beech or Willow Rise in the subject line to allow us to answer your email more quickly)
Property Pool Plus
- Website: https://www.propertypoolplus.org.uk/
- Telephone: 0151 443 2220
- Email: knowsley.propertypoolplus@knowsley.gov.uk (Please include Beech or Willow Rise in the subject line to allow us to answer your email more quickly)
Alternatively, you can use the online chat option.