North-West London

Fire Safety & Security Services in Barnet

Fire risk assessments, fire alarm installation, fire doors and CCTV for landlords, managing agents and businesses in High Barnet, New Barnet and the rest of EN4 and EN5.

The High Street at Chipping Barnet runs through two conservation areas, while the former gas works at New Barnet is becoming a large estate of flats, so work here ranges from discreet systems on historic frontages to fire and security for new blocks.

IDS Global was established in 2011, is a member of the IFSM and the FPA, and covers Barnet from its head office in Hayes, reaching EN4 and EN5 by the North Circular and the A1.

Businesses and buildings in Barnet

The historic core of Chipping Barnet runs along the High Street from St John the Baptist Church towards Hadley Green. Barnet Council's Wood Street appraisal, adopted in 2007, describes a street of medieval burgage plots with buildings of two or three storeys, narrow frontages and timber frames, many re-fronted in brick in the 18th and 19th centuries. Behind the High Street, The Spires shopping centre was the subject of a proposal by its owner, BYM, reported by the Barnet Society in January 2023, for 280 homes in blocks of four to six storeys above new shops. The council's January 2026 licensing business case names High Barnet as one of four wards with the greatest number of pre-1900 homes in the borough.

New Barnet is changing faster. The Barnet Society reported in June 2026 that Fairview New Homes was halfway through building Park Quarter, 486 homes in eleven blocks of up to eight storeys on the former gas works off Albert Road, with completion expected in autumn 2028. Barnet Hospital on Wellhouse Lane, EN5, is run by the Royal Free London and has an emergency department for adults and children.

Fire Risk Assessments in Barnet

Barnet Council's additional licensing scheme, introduced on 27 October 2022, goes beyond mandatory licensing. Besides shared houses with three or more people in two or more households, it covers some converted blocks: three or more storeys, at least three privately rented flats, one owner, and a conversion that does not meet the 1991 Building Regulations. A house converted into flats before 1 June 1992 could fall into that category if the other tests are met.

IDS Global carries out fire risk assessments of HMO common parts, converted blocks and shops with accommodation above, and sets out findings as a prioritised action plan the responsible person can keep with the licence file.

Fire risk assessments

Fire Alarm Installation in Barnet

In June 2025 a deep fat fryer set fire to a shop kitchen on High Street, Barnet. The London Fire Brigade reported that the ground floor kitchen was destroyed and that four people left the building before crews from Barnet, Mill Hill and Southgate arrived. Where a takeaway shares a building with offices or flats, early warning from the ground floor matters most.

IDS Global designs and installs BS 5839 Part 1 systems for shops, restaurants and offices, and Part 6 systems for flats and HMOs. In a mixed building the two can be linked so a fire in the commercial unit raises the alarm upstairs.

Fire alarm installation

CCTV Installation in Barnet

The police.uk figures in the crime section on this page point in two directions: shoplifting in the High Barnet neighbourhood, which includes The Spires, and vehicle crime and burglary in East Barnet, around New Barnet station.

IDS Global installs CCTV for shop floors, tills, rear yards, residential car parks and bin stores, recording at a quality the Metropolitan Police can use.

CCTV installation

Fire Door Installation in Barnet

In a converted house or a building with flats above a shop, flat entrance and stair doors protect the escape route. In the Wood Street Conservation Area, an Article 4 direction brings replacement doors and windows under planning control, and the council states that altering a building in a conservation area without consent is an offence.

IDS Global supplies and installs certified fire doorsets and inspects existing doors, identifying where an original door could be upgraded rather than replaced.

Fire door installation

HMO and selective licensing in Barnet

Two HMO schemes apply across the whole borough. Mandatory licensing covers HMOs with five or more people in two or more households; the council's additional scheme, running since 27 October 2022, covers smaller HMOs of three or more people and some converted blocks of flats. An unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine or a civil penalty of up to £30,000. The council also consulted from 15 June to 15 September 2026 on selective licensing in ten wards, listed in its January 2026 draft business case as Hendon, West Hendon, Childs Hill, Burnt Oak, Cricklewood, Golders Green, Friern Barnet, Colindale North, Colindale South and Finchley Church End. High Barnet, Barnet Vale, East Barnet and Underhill are not among them.

Wood Street and Monken Hadley conservation areas

Chipping Barnet sits in two of Barnet's 16 conservation areas. Monken Hadley was designated in December 1968, one of the borough's first four, and was extended in February 1979 to take in the northern end of the High Street. Wood Street was designated in 1969 and extended in 1979. Its 2007 appraisal counted 31 listed buildings, with St John the Baptist Church at grade II*, and 28 locally listed buildings. Cable routes, detectors, cameras and door changes on these frontages should be agreed with the council before work begins.

New flats at New Barnet and High Barnet station

At the former New Barnet gas works, Fairview's Park Quarter had 36 phase-two homes ready from March 2026, with 106 more due by the end of the year, the Barnet Society reported in June 2026. At High Barnet station, a scheme by Barratt and Places for London for 328 homes in five blocks, one of 11 storeys, was approved by the Deputy Mayor of London; in June 2026 the developers said they hoped to start construction in February 2027.

Recorded crime in High Barnet and East Barnet

For the twelve months from August 2025 to July 2026, police.uk data for the High Barnet neighbourhood records roughly 1,090 offences in total, including about 222 shoplifting offences, 89 vehicle crimes and 58 burglaries. The East Barnet neighbourhood, taking in New Barnet, records roughly 1,250 offences, with about 347 violent crimes, 168 vehicle crimes and 115 burglaries. Figures are approximate, from street-level data queried against each neighbourhood boundary.

Services available in Barnet

Frequently asked questions

Does my rented house in High Barnet need a licence?

If three or more people from two or more households share it, it needs an HMO licence under Barnet's borough-wide additional scheme, and five or more people brings it under mandatory licensing. Selective licensing for ordinary lets was only proposed for ten other wards in the 2026 consultation, and High Barnet was not one of them. Keep a current fire risk assessment and alarm certificate on file.

Can we fit cameras to a shop on Barnet High Street inside a conservation area?

Usually. Parts of the High Street fall within the Monken Hadley or Wood Street conservation areas, and a number of frontages are listed. Barnet Council treats unauthorised alterations in a conservation area as an offence. IDS Global can propose compact camera positions and cable routes for the planning team to check first.

How can a Barnet takeaway reduce its kitchen fire risk?

The Brigade linked that fire to a deep fat fryer and advised keeping cookers and extractor fans clean to stop grease building up. Where people work or live above a kitchen, review the fire risk assessment, test detection on the escape route, and confirm the alarm can be heard upstairs.

Which fire station covers Barnet?

Barnet fire station is at 144 Station Road, EN5 1TE, one of four London Fire Brigade stations in the borough alongside Finchley, Hendon and Mill Hill. Crews from other stations also attend: Southgate, which is not one of the four, sent a crew to the June 2025 High Street shop fire.