Morning Briefing: firefighters step up high-rise visits post-Grenfell

News20.10.179.00 AM by Sophie Barnes

Scottish firefighters visit more than 1,000 tower blocks, a council shells out for empty homes and the ex-borough leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council steps aside

Sharelines

Morning Briefing: firefighters step up high-rise visits post-Grenfell #ukhousing

In the news

Firefighters in Scotland have visited more than 1,000 high-rise homes since the Grenfell Tower fire, the BBC reports.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says it has “stepped up” visits and high-rise fires are at their lowest level in eight years with new figures showing a total of 238 incidents reported in 2016/17, a 52% reduction compared to 2009/10.

Newcastle Council is spending thousands of pounds refurbishing derelict properties, the BBC reports. More than 16,000 homes in the North East have been empty for longer than six months – the highest proportion of long-term empty homes in England.
Developers can apply for council grants of up to £10,000 on condition they subsequently find tenants.

The Evening Standard reports that the former leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Nicholas Paget-Brown, will stand down as a councillor after claiming that staying on would be a “distraction”.

Mr Paget-Brown told the council at a meeting this week that he would not stand for re-election in May next year because a “new team” was needed to take the borough forward following the Grenfell Tower fire.

On social media

A new report from Shelter revealing that almost half of the country’s low-income earners are having to choose between paying rent or buying food has been highlighted on Twitter this morning:

Almost half of UK’s low income earners ’sacrificing food to pay rent’ says new @Shelter report. #ukhousing t.co/BJP2pLg91f
— Tim Abbott (@Tim_Sovereign)
Almost half of UK's low income earners 'sacrificing food to pay rent' says new @Shelter report. #ukhousing https://t.co/BJP2pLg91f
— Tim Abbott (@Tim_Sovereign) October 20, 2017