Briefing: Opposition Day Debate on Grenfell

The one-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire is fast approaching and yet progress on a number of fronts has been very slow. With rehousing Grenfell survivors, the chronic under-supply of social and genuinely affordable housing in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea has left dozens of survivors still living in temporary forms of accommodation, without a permanent, settled home.

The unsafe cladding that was found on the Grenfell Tower has been found on over 300 other tower blocks across the country and progress with remediation work has lagged. Only 7 out of 158 socially owned blocks have completely finished remedial works, while some private blocks still remain unidentified and disputes are on going between leaseholders and building owners about who is liable to pay for works.

Beyond short-term, immediate responses to ensure residents are safe, there is wider work through the Hackitt Review, the consultation on desktop studies and the Grenfell Inquiry that aims to uncover what enabled the fire to take place and how we can prevent another tragedy of this kind from happening again.

Shelter is engaged in all areas of this work. From our advice workers supporting survivors and surrounding estate residents to be rehoused, to campaigning for the removal of unsafe cladding, we set out here our perspective on progress to date.

If you would like more information, please contact charlotte_gerada@shelter.org.uk