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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/six-vital-questions-grenfell-tower-regeneration-poverty-legislation-gavin-barwell
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| Six vital questions that must be answered about Grenfell Tower | Six vital questions that must be answered about Grenfell Tower |
| (7 months later) | |
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| Fri 16 Jun 2017 14.49 BST | |
| Last modified on Fri 15 Sep 2017 20.18 BST | |
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| Will the survivors of the disaster be housed within the borough? | Will the survivors of the disaster be housed within the borough? |
| At present there are fears that survivors of the fire will be housed outside the borough, on the edge of London or even further afield. This represents the continuation of a trend whereby local authorities uproot homeless families from their communities and send them to boroughs miles away: 50,000 families had been shipped out of London by 2015. Those asked to relocate out of borough are generally poorer and black and minority ethnic groups. In the case of the Grenfell Tower, were residents rich, their money would allow them to stay in the borough by renting privately or through insurance. But the local authority housed these residents while ignoring their warnings of the dangers of the building. A decision to then shift the residents out of borough would truly reveal what this government feels poorer communities are worth, at a time of utter desperation. | At present there are fears that survivors of the fire will be housed outside the borough, on the edge of London or even further afield. This represents the continuation of a trend whereby local authorities uproot homeless families from their communities and send them to boroughs miles away: 50,000 families had been shipped out of London by 2015. Those asked to relocate out of borough are generally poorer and black and minority ethnic groups. In the case of the Grenfell Tower, were residents rich, their money would allow them to stay in the borough by renting privately or through insurance. But the local authority housed these residents while ignoring their warnings of the dangers of the building. A decision to then shift the residents out of borough would truly reveal what this government feels poorer communities are worth, at a time of utter desperation. |
| Is regeneration working for all communities? | Is regeneration working for all communities? |
| One Kensington and Chelsea resident despaired that the £10m renovation on Grenfell Tower felt more like it was “to make it look good … for the people going to shop at Westfield”. The newly elected Labour MP in the borough, Emma Dent Coad, has previously lambasted the council for focusing planning regulation to make the area – which has some of the highest rates of inequality in the country – look nice rather than meet people’s needs. In other areas across the country, the so-called regeneration of estates has, in real terms, meant shipping communities out of council housing in highly coveted postcodes, while some of the most iconic social housing, such as the Balfron Tower designed by Ernő Goldfinger, has been taken from residents on low incomes and put on the open market. This disaster surely means that the government needs to answer serious questions about whom regeneration is benefitting, and at what cost. | One Kensington and Chelsea resident despaired that the £10m renovation on Grenfell Tower felt more like it was “to make it look good … for the people going to shop at Westfield”. The newly elected Labour MP in the borough, Emma Dent Coad, has previously lambasted the council for focusing planning regulation to make the area – which has some of the highest rates of inequality in the country – look nice rather than meet people’s needs. In other areas across the country, the so-called regeneration of estates has, in real terms, meant shipping communities out of council housing in highly coveted postcodes, while some of the most iconic social housing, such as the Balfron Tower designed by Ernő Goldfinger, has been taken from residents on low incomes and put on the open market. This disaster surely means that the government needs to answer serious questions about whom regeneration is benefitting, and at what cost. |
| Is deregulation an excuse for poor-quality housing? | Is deregulation an excuse for poor-quality housing? |
| There was concern that companies would now have to battle it out to sign off buildings as safe as TMOs seek the cheapest option. Government planning deregulation has included the removal of requirements for sustainable homes and building regulations have been watered down. | There was concern that companies would now have to battle it out to sign off buildings as safe as TMOs seek the cheapest option. Government planning deregulation has included the removal of requirements for sustainable homes and building regulations have been watered down. |
| With central government signing off on office blocks being converted into homes – often as temporary accommodation for the poorest communities, as in the case of Cardiff House in Luton – as well as plans for new build-to-rent properties to be erected, we have to ask what the safety regulations for these buildings will be. If risk is now to be built into the fabric of social housing because it comes at a cheaper cost, then only wealth can guarantee that homes are habitable. That has to be questioned. | With central government signing off on office blocks being converted into homes – often as temporary accommodation for the poorest communities, as in the case of Cardiff House in Luton – as well as plans for new build-to-rent properties to be erected, we have to ask what the safety regulations for these buildings will be. If risk is now to be built into the fabric of social housing because it comes at a cheaper cost, then only wealth can guarantee that homes are habitable. That has to be questioned. |
| Can landlords continue to work as MPs and write legislation on housing without it representing a conflict of interest? | Can landlords continue to work as MPs and write legislation on housing without it representing a conflict of interest? |
| The government will have other questions to answer about their deregulation of building control. Last year, the Conservatives voted down requirements for landlords to make their homes fit for human habitation: 72 of those MPs were landlords themselves. | The government will have other questions to answer about their deregulation of building control. Last year, the Conservatives voted down requirements for landlords to make their homes fit for human habitation: 72 of those MPs were landlords themselves. |
| Can cuts be ruled out as a factor in this mess? | Can cuts be ruled out as a factor in this mess? |
| By and large, cuts have hit the most deprived boroughs and communities the hardest. As a result, the maintenance of housing association properties and other social housing has become an afterthought, with tenants having few rights. In the case of Grenfell Tower, residents campaigned vociferously against the dangerous conditions they were living in, and the block was not inspected for 18 months. | By and large, cuts have hit the most deprived boroughs and communities the hardest. As a result, the maintenance of housing association properties and other social housing has become an afterthought, with tenants having few rights. In the case of Grenfell Tower, residents campaigned vociferously against the dangerous conditions they were living in, and the block was not inspected for 18 months. |
| Ongoing cuts to the fire service of up to 50% were linked last year by chief fire officers to the 21% rise in fire-related deaths. As recently as September, Jeremy Corbyn was laughed at by Theresa May at PMQs as he continually tried to raise issues about housing, including fears about the number of private landlords renting out unsafe homes. But while Gloucestershire MP Alex Chalk defended the government decision to resist extra requirements for landlords, on the basis that they can now be fined up to £30,000, the poorest councils are finding that they do not have the funds to enforce the fines. Cuts mean it’s always the poorest who are left to suffer. | Ongoing cuts to the fire service of up to 50% were linked last year by chief fire officers to the 21% rise in fire-related deaths. As recently as September, Jeremy Corbyn was laughed at by Theresa May at PMQs as he continually tried to raise issues about housing, including fears about the number of private landlords renting out unsafe homes. But while Gloucestershire MP Alex Chalk defended the government decision to resist extra requirements for landlords, on the basis that they can now be fined up to £30,000, the poorest councils are finding that they do not have the funds to enforce the fines. Cuts mean it’s always the poorest who are left to suffer. |
| Will previous housing minister Gavin Barwell be sacked as Theresa May’s aide? | Will previous housing minister Gavin Barwell be sacked as Theresa May’s aide? |
| A fire at Lakanal House in south London in 2009 that caused the deaths of six people led to a fire and safety review in 2013. Perhaps if its advice had been heeded, the residents of Grenfell Tower could have been saved, but Barwell and the other Tory housing ministers who preceded him did not manage to implement those recommendations. Barwell allegedly also sat on a paper warning him of the risk to tower blocks such as Grenfell Tower. He is now May’s chief of staff – it’s not a tenable position. | A fire at Lakanal House in south London in 2009 that caused the deaths of six people led to a fire and safety review in 2013. Perhaps if its advice had been heeded, the residents of Grenfell Tower could have been saved, but Barwell and the other Tory housing ministers who preceded him did not manage to implement those recommendations. Barwell allegedly also sat on a paper warning him of the risk to tower blocks such as Grenfell Tower. He is now May’s chief of staff – it’s not a tenable position. |
| In 2014, Jim Fitzpatrick MP stated to then housing minister Brandon Lewis: “Anyone involved in fire knows that the majority of people who die in fires are the old, the ill, the disabled, those with dependency problems and the poor.” A number of tower blocks have had fires that caused deaths. These buildings are by and large occupied by poor, non-white residents. Not a single luxury high-rise development has burned down in the same period. When times are hard – as councillor Judith Blakeman said on Channel 4 – the poor are expected to be “grateful for what they are given”. | In 2014, Jim Fitzpatrick MP stated to then housing minister Brandon Lewis: “Anyone involved in fire knows that the majority of people who die in fires are the old, the ill, the disabled, those with dependency problems and the poor.” A number of tower blocks have had fires that caused deaths. These buildings are by and large occupied by poor, non-white residents. Not a single luxury high-rise development has burned down in the same period. When times are hard – as councillor Judith Blakeman said on Channel 4 – the poor are expected to be “grateful for what they are given”. |
| The Grenfell victims are overwhelmingly working-class, and largely from BAME groups, in one of the richest areas in the world. Someone needs to answer for their deaths. | The Grenfell victims are overwhelmingly working-class, and largely from BAME groups, in one of the richest areas in the world. Someone needs to answer for their deaths. |
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