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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/03/grenfell-survivors-seek-radical-reform-of-social-housing-oversight
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| Grenfell survivors seek radical reform of social housing oversight | Grenfell survivors seek radical reform of social housing oversight |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire are calling on the government to overhaul the way social housing is regulated and set up a powerful watchdog that could jail negligent housing managers. | The survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire are calling on the government to overhaul the way social housing is regulated and set up a powerful watchdog that could jail negligent housing managers. |
| They want changes as radical as those made to oversight of the banking industry after the 2008 financial crash and have described the current system as “the dog that didn’t bark”. | They want changes as radical as those made to oversight of the banking industry after the 2008 financial crash and have described the current system as “the dog that didn’t bark”. |
| Natasha Elcock, the chair of the survivors’ group Grenfell United, has told supporters of plans for “a movement to ensure that people up and down the country are listened to and are heard and are in a safe environment”. | |
| Members of the group have made contact with residents’ associations at other social housing blocks and are calling on tenants to sign up to residents associations to start to amplify their voices. | |
| Asked about the initiative, the housing secretary, James Brokenshire, appeared to be receptive and told the Guardian he wanted to make social landlords more accountable to tenants and was conscious of the “need to increase regulation”. | Asked about the initiative, the housing secretary, James Brokenshire, appeared to be receptive and told the Guardian he wanted to make social landlords more accountable to tenants and was conscious of the “need to increase regulation”. |
| The Grenfell inquiry: tragic revelations of failure, buck-passing … and bravery | The Grenfell inquiry: tragic revelations of failure, buck-passing … and bravery |
| Grenfell residents told the first phase of the public inquiry into the fire that Kensington and Chelsea Tenants Management Organisation repeatedly ignored their concerns about the standard of workmanship during a refurbishment that involved wrapping the tower in combustible materials. | |
| Ed Daffarn, who escaped from the 16th floor, warned eight months before the fire that “only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord”. | Ed Daffarn, who escaped from the 16th floor, warned eight months before the fire that “only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord”. |
| Daffarn is now driving the move for more urgent reform of the social housing sector as part of Grenfell United. He is also a member of an independent social housing commission set up by Shelter, the housing charity, alongside the former Labour leader Ed Miliband and the Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi. It will publish a report next Tuesday that is expected to echo the Grenfell families’ demands for new regulation. | Daffarn is now driving the move for more urgent reform of the social housing sector as part of Grenfell United. He is also a member of an independent social housing commission set up by Shelter, the housing charity, alongside the former Labour leader Ed Miliband and the Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi. It will publish a report next Tuesday that is expected to echo the Grenfell families’ demands for new regulation. |
| Daffarn said the current housing ombudsman and social housing regulator were opaque organisations not widely known by tenants. “What we feel let us down at Grenfell was the lack of scrutiny,” he said. “They were safe in the knowledge nobody was going to scrutinise them.” | Daffarn said the current housing ombudsman and social housing regulator were opaque organisations not widely known by tenants. “What we feel let us down at Grenfell was the lack of scrutiny,” he said. “They were safe in the knowledge nobody was going to scrutinise them.” |
| Grenfell United wants senior managers to have a statutory responsibility to keep tenants safe and a more proactive regulator that targets problems rather than simply responds to complaints. | Grenfell United wants senior managers to have a statutory responsibility to keep tenants safe and a more proactive regulator that targets problems rather than simply responds to complaints. |
| “Housing associations have seen what happened at Grenfell and are behaving in the same way,” Daffarn said. “The change in culture won’t come about because of the impact of Grenfell, it will come from policy and regulation. We can see so many similarities between the banking industry, which was unregulated and had a crash, and a housing sector that had Grenfell. Regulating housing should be 50 times more important that regulating banks.” | “Housing associations have seen what happened at Grenfell and are behaving in the same way,” Daffarn said. “The change in culture won’t come about because of the impact of Grenfell, it will come from policy and regulation. We can see so many similarities between the banking industry, which was unregulated and had a crash, and a housing sector that had Grenfell. Regulating housing should be 50 times more important that regulating banks.” |
| The public inquiry into the disaster will rarely sit this year, causing concern that momentum for reform could wane. Lawyers for the building companies and the council landlords involved in the refurbishment of the tower are being given time to trawl through more than 200,000 documents being disclosed before the second stage of the inquiry, which will scrutinise the management of the tower, communications with residents, its refurbishment and fire safety. | The public inquiry into the disaster will rarely sit this year, causing concern that momentum for reform could wane. Lawyers for the building companies and the council landlords involved in the refurbishment of the tower are being given time to trawl through more than 200,000 documents being disclosed before the second stage of the inquiry, which will scrutinise the management of the tower, communications with residents, its refurbishment and fire safety. |
| The inquiry chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, said in December that the hearings were unlikely to start before the end of 2019. | The inquiry chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, said in December that the hearings were unlikely to start before the end of 2019. |
| Grenfell Tower inquiry: what we've learned so far | Grenfell Tower inquiry: what we've learned so far |
| The campaign for new regulation is a further sign that the bereaved, survivors and residents are opening a new chapter in their activism nearly 19 months after the fire in June 2017, which claimed 72 lives. | The campaign for new regulation is a further sign that the bereaved, survivors and residents are opening a new chapter in their activism nearly 19 months after the fire in June 2017, which claimed 72 lives. |
| “What’s key isn’t that Grenfell is remembered for what happened before the fire, but for the change we achieved after the fire,” said Daffarn. “We are looking to change the culture around social housing and the institutional indifference it entails. Grenfell United has come to believe that can be achieved through a two-pronged attack – tenants’ voice and regulation.” | “What’s key isn’t that Grenfell is remembered for what happened before the fire, but for the change we achieved after the fire,” said Daffarn. “We are looking to change the culture around social housing and the institutional indifference it entails. Grenfell United has come to believe that can be achieved through a two-pronged attack – tenants’ voice and regulation.” |
| He said: “Grenfell wouldn’t have happened if we had been heard and respected … People are still not being listened to.” | He said: “Grenfell wouldn’t have happened if we had been heard and respected … People are still not being listened to.” |
| Brokenshire said he was “struck by the need for clear and effective redress in the area of social housing and ensuring tenants are able to hold their landlords to account”. | Brokenshire said he was “struck by the need for clear and effective redress in the area of social housing and ensuring tenants are able to hold their landlords to account”. |
| “That message of tenant voices is very, very relevant in ensuring proper standards are maintained and that where things are going wrong they are picked up and addressed,” he said. “It is a theme I am very conscious of when we look to the future of regulation around social housing.” | “That message of tenant voices is very, very relevant in ensuring proper standards are maintained and that where things are going wrong they are picked up and addressed,” he said. “It is a theme I am very conscious of when we look to the future of regulation around social housing.” |
| The government is expected to publish a white paper on social housing this year, which is expected to contain proposals for a new system of regulation. | The government is expected to publish a white paper on social housing this year, which is expected to contain proposals for a new system of regulation. |
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