Survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster are not being offered suitable accommodation by Kensington and Chelsea Council, Morning Star Online reported on July 6, as British Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced yet another taskforce would be sent in to cover the calamitous Tory local authority’s failings.
Three weeks after the blaze, residents from the west London tower and nearby Grenfell Walk were still living in hotels. Only 14 households have accepted offers of permanent or temporary living arrangements, the new taskforce’s predecessor the Grenfell Response Team (GRT) admitted.
Campaigners and residents said properties are either out of the borough, too costly or only on a one-year contract. Astonishingly, bearing in mind the ordeal they have suffered, some had been offered places in high-rise buildings.
A campaigner working with the families said one survivor had been offered accommodation which, after a year of paying no rent, would be triple what they were paying before.
Javid’s decision to bring in a recovery taskforce to offer long-term support, including housing, followed heavy criticism of the council and the resignation of its two most senior members. The move was branded “a clear admission of failure” by shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne, who said: “It is clear that the community has lost trust in their council.”