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‘Unacceptably’ slow pace of Grenfell rehousing continues
The slow progress of rehousing families made homeless by the Grenfell Tower disaster has continued, with only six more having moved into permanent or interim homes in the past month.
Since 18 December, only six families have moved into permanent or interim homes and just three families have accepted offers of accommodation, government officials revealed yesterday.
It means that of the 208 households made homeless by the fire, 100 are still living in emergency accommodation more than seven months on. As of 11 January, 147 households had accepted an offer of interim or permanent accommodation, with 61 households still waiting to choose.
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Only 108 households had moved into interim or permanent accommodation as of 11 January, up just six from the 102 recorded on 18 December.
Of these, 53 have moved into permanent accommodation – an increase of 46 since 18 December. The revised information was revealed by Jo Farrar, director general for local government and public services at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, during a questioning of the government department on its financial accounts by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee.
Dr Farrar said: “We feel the pace is not acceptable and continue to push [Kensington and Chelsea Council].” In the days after the fire, prime minister Theresa May vowed to rehouse all affected families within three weeks.
Kim Taylor Smith, deputy leader of RBKC, said: “We have an army of 300 staff working around the clock, and we are doing everything we can to rehouse families, with the biggest house-purchasing programme by any local authority in recent history – and have spent £235m to secure 300 new properties so that people have maximum choice.
“We will continue to move at the pace at of individuals and families involved - no-one should be rushed into making important decisions about where they are going to live.”
Update: at 4.30pm, 16.01.18.This story was updated to include a comment from RBKC
Never Again campaign
Inside Housing has launched a campaign to improve fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire
Never Again: campaign asks
Inside Housing is calling for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
LANDLORDS
- Take immediate action to check cladding and external panels on tower blocks and take prompt, appropriate action to remedy any problems
- Update risk assessments using an appropriate, qualified expert.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
GOVERNMENT
- Provide urgent advice on the installation and upkeep of external insulation
- Update and clarify building regulations immediately – with a commitment to update if additional learning emerges at a later date from the Grenfell inquiry
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.
The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.
