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| 'Where are we going to live?': Grenfell Tower locals face uncertain future | 'Where are we going to live?': Grenfell Tower locals face uncertain future |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| In the streets around Grenfell Tower, residents have spent the past two days huddled in groups, trying to process what the disaster means for their future and desperate for clarity from the council about what will happen to the estate. | |
| “They want people like us out of the area,” a library assistant who lives in a block at the foot of the flats said, asking for her name not to be printed to avoid causing difficulties with the tenant management organisation, her landlord. More than 48 hours after the fire, she and hundreds of other families displaced by the disaster remain unclear about where and when they will be rehoused permanently, and there is concern they may lose their homes in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. | “They want people like us out of the area,” a library assistant who lives in a block at the foot of the flats said, asking for her name not to be printed to avoid causing difficulties with the tenant management organisation, her landlord. More than 48 hours after the fire, she and hundreds of other families displaced by the disaster remain unclear about where and when they will be rehoused permanently, and there is concern they may lose their homes in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. |
| Beinazir Lasharie, a resident and local Labour councillor, said: “We’re a nuisance to the council. Their attitude is: ‘How dare so many ethnic minority foreigners who are not well off live in these ugly flats.’” Lasharie had been evacuated from her flat in a block next to the tower, and was uncertain about when she could return. “They don’t care about us, they don’t listen to us. It’s as if they want us to move out. They are socially cleansing us across the borough.” | |
| This week’s disaster has exposed a simmering crisis in central London around how local authorities treat social housing tenants, at a time of soaring house prices and shrinking council budgets. Kensington and Chelsea tenants feel their continued presence in the area has been barely tolerated by a council that has an agenda to push through redevelopment designed to mix social housing with expensive private accommodation. | This week’s disaster has exposed a simmering crisis in central London around how local authorities treat social housing tenants, at a time of soaring house prices and shrinking council budgets. Kensington and Chelsea tenants feel their continued presence in the area has been barely tolerated by a council that has an agenda to push through redevelopment designed to mix social housing with expensive private accommodation. |
| Residents of several low-rise blocks at the foot of the tower that have been cordoned off since the tragedy were angry that they had received very little information about when they might be allowed to return to their homes and whether the threat posed by the remains of Grenfell was likely to mean they would be shut out for months. It was not clear on Friday morning how many flats had been designated as unsafe, but a wide area of the estate was cordoned off as vans of gas workers arrived. | Residents of several low-rise blocks at the foot of the tower that have been cordoned off since the tragedy were angry that they had received very little information about when they might be allowed to return to their homes and whether the threat posed by the remains of Grenfell was likely to mean they would be shut out for months. It was not clear on Friday morning how many flats had been designated as unsafe, but a wide area of the estate was cordoned off as vans of gas workers arrived. |
| Abz, an apprentice electrician who lives in a flat on Barandon Walk – linked to the tower by a shared basement, said he had spent the past two nights sleeping on the floor of the Westway leisure centre with more than 100 other people evacuated from the estate. “There were families, old people, young people on the floor,” he said. He had not had any contact with the council. “It’s like they really don’t care.” His friend Yousif, a retail manager, said he had been allowed back to sleep in his flat 50 metres further from the block, but he said police had told him to pack a bag and be ready to evacuate in case the block showed signs of being unstable. “I didn’t feel comfortable. It doesn’t feel safe. Nobody has told us if it is.” | |
| “Where are we going to live? I don’t know,” said Zohra Jolly, a hairdresser. She lived with her husband and three children at the foot of Grenfell Tower and had been told she could not return to her flat for the moment because the area remained unsafe. “They have been trying to knock down these blocks for years,” she said. | “Where are we going to live? I don’t know,” said Zohra Jolly, a hairdresser. She lived with her husband and three children at the foot of Grenfell Tower and had been told she could not return to her flat for the moment because the area remained unsafe. “They have been trying to knock down these blocks for years,” she said. |
| There is a widely shared belief that the borough has been working to redevelop this area and move social housing tenants to cheaper areas of London and beyond. “There is real fear that the development of the estates is part of a social cleansing programme,” the newly elected MP for Kensington, Labour’s Emma Dent Coad, said this week. | There is a widely shared belief that the borough has been working to redevelop this area and move social housing tenants to cheaper areas of London and beyond. “There is real fear that the development of the estates is part of a social cleansing programme,” the newly elected MP for Kensington, Labour’s Emma Dent Coad, said this week. |
| The new housing minister, Alok Sharma, the sixth person appointed to the role since 2010, gave a commitment on Thursday that “every single family from Grenfell House will be rehoused in the local area”. | The new housing minister, Alok Sharma, the sixth person appointed to the role since 2010, gave a commitment on Thursday that “every single family from Grenfell House will be rehoused in the local area”. |
| A local Labour councillor, Robert Atkinson, said: “The council was taken by surprise by this commitment. Their response was: ‘That’s all well and good, but you didn’t consult us on that.’” | |
| Sure enough, on Friday afternoon the council issued a statement casting some doubt on the government’s commitment. “Given the number of households involved, it is possible the council will have to explore housing options that may become available in other parts of the capital,” it said. | Sure enough, on Friday afternoon the council issued a statement casting some doubt on the government’s commitment. “Given the number of households involved, it is possible the council will have to explore housing options that may become available in other parts of the capital,” it said. |
| Not long after that, a council spokesman said that statement was wrong. “Our understanding has changed,” he explained. | Not long after that, a council spokesman said that statement was wrong. “Our understanding has changed,” he explained. |
| Officials are conscious that homes for at least 120 families in a borough that is already very over-subscribed and expensive will be hard to find. Locals remain sceptical about government commitments. | Officials are conscious that homes for at least 120 families in a borough that is already very over-subscribed and expensive will be hard to find. Locals remain sceptical about government commitments. |
| “They want to get rid of the estate because it’s the royal borough,” said Ernest John, another resident of an evacuated block, as he waited for police officers to escort him into his home to remove key belongings. “The government has done nothing for us. They don’t listen to us. They never address our problems.” | “They want to get rid of the estate because it’s the royal borough,” said Ernest John, another resident of an evacuated block, as he waited for police officers to escort him into his home to remove key belongings. “The government has done nothing for us. They don’t listen to us. They never address our problems.” |
| A local ward councillor, Judith Blakeman, said residents were right to be worried. “The prime minister says everyone will be rehoused in London but that could be anywhere,” she said. “We seem to send everyone to Enfield now. | |
| “The residents have been treated with contempt, as servile beggars, because the social rent is lower than market rent. People are beginning to understand the implications of that.” | |
| Having acted as an intermediary between residents and the council’s tenant management organisation for years, she had witnessed how repeated requests for the tenants’ needs to be met were brushed off. | Having acted as an intermediary between residents and the council’s tenant management organisation for years, she had witnessed how repeated requests for the tenants’ needs to be met were brushed off. |
| “They didn’t include the fire escape in the refurbishment programme, even though the lights in it didn’t work, it was really dank, dark and horrible and poorly lit,” she said. “They were working to a budget, the money ran out, that was all they were prepared to pay for – the richest council in the country. | |
| “I submitted an email saying please include the fire escape in the refurbishment. The answer came straight back: ‘No, there’s no money in the project for it and the council are not prepared to increase the budget.’ It proves they were doing it on the cheap.” | |
| Andy Slaughter, the Labour MP for neighbouring Hammersmith, said he hoped the disaster would force the government to “re-examine the place of social housing in high-value areas”. He said the government had to stop treating social tenants as second-class citizens and stop “implying that they are unwelcome in high-value areas, in central London.” | Andy Slaughter, the Labour MP for neighbouring Hammersmith, said he hoped the disaster would force the government to “re-examine the place of social housing in high-value areas”. He said the government had to stop treating social tenants as second-class citizens and stop “implying that they are unwelcome in high-value areas, in central London.” |
| The combined effect of cuts to housing benefit, the introduction of a benefit cap and a continuing trend of selling off council properties meant that “a message has come from Conservative councils for a number of years that unless you can afford to pay market rates in inner London you should go somewhere else,” Slaughter said. “That is not neglect; that is a positively hostile approach to your social housing tenants.” | The combined effect of cuts to housing benefit, the introduction of a benefit cap and a continuing trend of selling off council properties meant that “a message has come from Conservative councils for a number of years that unless you can afford to pay market rates in inner London you should go somewhere else,” Slaughter said. “That is not neglect; that is a positively hostile approach to your social housing tenants.” |
| He added: “Kensington and Chelsea has looked after its rich tenants very well. It hasn’t looked after its social housing tenants so well.” | He added: “Kensington and Chelsea has looked after its rich tenants very well. It hasn’t looked after its social housing tenants so well.” |
| There was annoyance from residents that news reports on the disaster had painted the estate as a centre of profound deprivation. “They assume that everyone who lives here is a junkie or unemployed or on benefits. That’s not what it’s like. Most people are working,” Zohra Jolly said. | |
| Her neighbours waiting with her for news about when they could return to their homes included a social worker, a Heathrow security guard, NHS employees, delivery drivers, a hotel cleaner, a psychology student working part-time as a receptionist – people doing work vitally needed in London, dependent on social housing because a property boom in the capital had made renting and buying unaffordable. | |
| Steve Cowan, the leader of Hammersmith council – which has found housing for four people displaced by the fire, said he thought it would be possible to implement Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal to access empty properties – not through forcible requisitioning but through negotiating with landlords to take on the properties and rent them out. “There has been an international gold-rush on properties in this part of London. It’s about talking to landlords and explaining: ‘This is an emergency, it’s ridiculous they are empty, can we not get them back into use?’” | |
| But he said the government would have to lift some of the caps on how much money could be spent on housing benefit if it wanted to house people near the borough. “They may have to make an exemption for these people,” he said. “If they want to find private landlords who are prepared to rent their properties, they will have to pay market rent for it.” | |
| Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, agreed, adding: “They can’t possibly apply things like the benefit cap, and this may have knock-on effects on the policy in the longer term.” | Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, agreed, adding: “They can’t possibly apply things like the benefit cap, and this may have knock-on effects on the policy in the longer term.” |
| For now, residents were angry that there was such a shortage of council staff available to tell them what was happening and where they should go. Those living in the tower are understood to have been given hotel accommodation, but there was less clarity about what would happen to those who lived in the surrounding buildings. Some had been registered by the Red Cross at the local Westway refuge centre and were waiting for more information. In the initial confusion, some people opted to sleep in the open air on the grass outside their block. | For now, residents were angry that there was such a shortage of council staff available to tell them what was happening and where they should go. Those living in the tower are understood to have been given hotel accommodation, but there was less clarity about what would happen to those who lived in the surrounding buildings. Some had been registered by the Red Cross at the local Westway refuge centre and were waiting for more information. In the initial confusion, some people opted to sleep in the open air on the grass outside their block. |
| Two days after the disaster, some residents were still walking around in pyjamas. Others who had been told they could go back to their homes were worried about the pollution, the bits of debris still falling from Grenfell Tower, and concerned about electrical safety and whether there would be any hot water, since the central boiler that supplied water to all the blocks was in Grenfell’s basement . There was no one who could tell them whether the block itself was safe. | Two days after the disaster, some residents were still walking around in pyjamas. Others who had been told they could go back to their homes were worried about the pollution, the bits of debris still falling from Grenfell Tower, and concerned about electrical safety and whether there would be any hot water, since the central boiler that supplied water to all the blocks was in Grenfell’s basement . There was no one who could tell them whether the block itself was safe. |
| Kelly, a receptionist who asked for her surname not to be printed, was escorted by the police to gather clothes from her flat on Barandon Walk, beneath the tower. “They promise that they are going to keep us in the borough, but how can they when they have knocked down all our affordable housing?” she said. “When we ask the police how long we will be out, they don’t know. Who does know? There’s no one here to tell us.” | Kelly, a receptionist who asked for her surname not to be printed, was escorted by the police to gather clothes from her flat on Barandon Walk, beneath the tower. “They promise that they are going to keep us in the borough, but how can they when they have knocked down all our affordable housing?” she said. “When we ask the police how long we will be out, they don’t know. Who does know? There’s no one here to tell us.” |