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No record of number of resident emails among 9,000 emails sent to post-Grenfell safety inbox, minister admits

More than 9,000 emails have been sent to a government inbox set up post-Grenfell but there is no record of how many are from concerned residents, a minister has admitted.

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More than 9,000 emails have been sent to a government inbox set up post-Grenfell but there is no record of how many are from concerned residents, a minister has admitted #ukhousing

Ms McVey confirmed that as of November 2019 there were “in excess of 9,000 emails” in the mailbox dating back to June 2017 #ukhousing

The ‘housing checks’ inbox was set up immediately after the fire in June 2017, which killed 72 people, to allow residents to report safety concerns related to their building.

However, housing minister Esther McVey said in a written parliamentary response last week that the mailbox was “established to allow local authorities and housing associations to report their stock of buildings with unsafe aluminium composite cladding”.

In the response, she added: “We are aware that other organisations and bodies have sent mail to this inbox on housing safety issues. We do not record the number of emails received each month from residents to the housing checks inbox.”


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A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government source reiterated to Inside Housing that the inbox was initially set up for housing associations and councils, but also said residents had used it.

Ms McVey confirmed that as of November 2019 there were “in excess of 9,000 emails” in the mailbox dating back to June 2017.

Inside Housing understands that a ‘contact us’ link for concerned residents was added in place of the housing checks address on 16 December this year.

The housing checks inbox has previously proved controversial after Inside Housing revealed that an official wrote to a tower bock resident telling them the address was “no longer in use”. The government subsequently denied this was the case.

Danielle Gregory, a member of campaigning group Tower Blocks UK, who received the letter from the official, said the latest situation was a “mess”.

She added: “There seems to be no failsafe for residents who have had no luck with their landlords.”

Last month it emerged that the number of buildings with Grenfell-style cladding awaiting remediation work has risen by one, after 10 further buildings with the deadly material were found.

The figures showed that 319 of 446 buildings with aluminium composite material cladding are still awaiting remediation, some 30 months on from the fire in west London.

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