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How did we find ourselves here three years after Grenfell?
Three years after Grenfell new research has revealed the mental health impacts of the ongoing cladding scandal. Their predicament reveals how empty many of the promises made after the fire really were, writes Martin Hilditch
How did we find ourselves here?
In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, three years ago this week, we were promised change.
Buildings would be made safe. Dangerous cladding would be stripped from the walls. The voices of tenants and residents would be amplified and no longer ignored.
Frankly, it is a disgrace that we are in the position we find ourselves in today. As Nick Coombe, building safety manager at the National Fire Chiefs Council, tells us this week: “Whatever way you cut it, it’s not good enough.”
Hundreds of thousands of residents have been let down. Today many are living in fear, both of the potential impact of a fire in the buildings they live in and of the ruinous costs of present-day protective measures and future remediation work.
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To mark the anniversary of the fire, we have focused on telling the stories of residents who are affected by the cladding scandal to this day. Make no mistake, this is an ongoing scandal that is ruining lives. The responses to a survey of 550 leaseholders carried out by UK Cladding Action Group makes for difficult reading, outlining the severe and growing impact the scandal is having on their mental well-being.
A total of 124 respondents said they had considered self-harm or suicide as a result of the stress. The vast majority – 84% – have suffered from excessive worry or anxiety as a result of their situation, while 26% have sought counselling or medical help.
It didn’t have to be like this. Elsewhere in this issue, Peter Apps’ painstaking research evidences the failures of the past three years. Today we have a crisis born of dithering, buck-passing and blind optimism, which has left an estimated 600,000 flats effectively unsellable.
The government’s £1bn announcement of funding to remove cladding in March is welcome – but the prediction is that it will cover only a third of the buildings in the country that need work. Three years after Grenfell it is difficult to see the finishing line for many trapped in dangerous buildings.
As a reminder there are still 307 tall residential buildings with Grenfell-style aluminium composite material cladding – and there are 1,700 others with other types of risky systems.
We continue to call for funding to cover remediation work on all blocks – but also for there to be a clear road map setting out how this will be achieved and prioritised and, most importantly, work to support and protect residents.
