On 21 May 2025, residents of Beech Rise and Willow Rise in Kirkby were faced with the prospect of having to immediately vacate their homes due to fire safety concerns.
These privately owned buildings in Kirkby – with 160 privately owned or rented flats – are in a significant state of disrepair, and a privately funded ‘waking watch’ was due to come to an end.
To avoid the immediate evacuation and to give residents more time to find alternative accommodation, the council stepped in to temporarily fund the waking watch for a few weeks. Since then, we have been on site to provide support help and advice to residents.
Beech Rise & Willow Rise are private properties – they not owned by the council and the residents are not council tenants. However, the council is doing all it can to support the people living in Beech & Willow Rise at what we know is a really difficult and upsetting time.
Here’s what the council is doing:
✔ Temporarily taken over the ‘waking watch’ (which was privately funded until 21 May 2025), at a cost of just under £3,000 per day, to keep the building safe and to prevent the need for an emergency evacuation
✔ Written to all residents to explain what’s happening and where they can get help and advice
✔ Made contact with all known vulnerable residents within these blocks to ensure they have personalised support
✔ Held a series of in-person events where affected residents can ask any questions they have, with representatives of the council and other agencies. Residents can also speak to council officers by calling 0151 443 2333.
✔ Created a dedicated page on our website – www.knowsley.gov.uk/beechandwillowrise – with the latest information including frequently asked questions which are being regularly updated to respond to residents’ enquiries
✔ Encouraging all residents at risk of homelessness to register with Property Pool Plus now, so that we can begin the process of helping them find alternative accommodation
✔ Working with Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley to lobby Government for help to support the residents of Beech & Willow Rise
But there are things we cannot do:
Responsibly for the repair, maintenance and upkeep of the buildings remains with the building’s owners, the council is therefore not liable for, nor does it have the funding to:
❌ Undertake repairs to the building – again, these are privately owned buildings, and it is believed that the cost of repairs could run into millions of pounds
❌ Reinstatement of the lifts – we are advised by the buildings’ management company that three of the lifts are unrepairable
❌ Continue the waking watch indefinitely – because it requires six trained officers to be on site (three in each building), patrolling the building for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is expensive. It also does not resolve any of the underlying issues within the buildings or address the conditions in which residents are living.
Where can I get help?
If you are a resident of Beech or Willow Rise and haven’t yet been in contact with us for advice and support, please visit www.knowsley.gov.uk/beechandwillowrise for more information.