Tower block fire - london

Looks like at least 68 of the 120 or so households will be housed in the borough:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...s-2bn-luxury-kensington-block-given-grenfell/

number of Grenfell Tower families are to be housed in a £2bn luxury development, which boasts a private cinema and swimming pool.

Brand-new flats in a Kensington High Street development have been bought for those who lost their homes in the blaze, according to the Evening Standard.

The City of London Corporation is acquiring the 68 flats as part of the response to the tragedy. A spokesman told the Evening Standard: “We are ready to do everything we can to help the victims of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower.”

A spokesman for the Berkeley Group, which owns the development, confirmed to the paper they were finalising plans to rehouse Grenfell Tower residents.

The deal was brokered by the Homes and Communities Agency on behalf of the government.

So much for all the bitching about how the residents are being treated * - seems like the council immediately put them up in a leisure centre on the day (along with other community groups), within a couple of days after that they're given 5k each and hotel rooms and now a neighbouring borough has rather generously donated 10 million and sorted a deal to get most of the households luxury flats at cost price. No need for requisition or compulsory purchase of unoccupied flats where there are new developments in progress.

For the people who survived, didn't lose anyone etc.. as far as people who've lost their homes in a fire are concerned they're not exactly doing too badly.

Things that could cause some bitching though - these are expensive properties, if this development is still being
built I wonder if the flats allocated to the residents will end up being in a separate block without access to th swimming pool, cinema... otherwise how the service charge could prove to be a bit tricky - people who exercised right to by for a 400k ex council flat probably won't want to now pay the several grand a year that their new millionaire neighbours pay. However if you take the sensible solution of keeping their block separate to minimise this cost then the first thing Corbyn will jump on is that there is a 'poor door' and that they're being treated as second class citizens in the development, can't use the pool etc..

I'd also wonder re: potentially anyone who sublet their apartment illegally - the family in the sublet isn't officially there and perhaps screwed... as long as the illegal submitter doesn't get caught out then they potentially could end up with a new luxury flat!

Also there were 120 or so flats in the tower block, there are only 68 bought for them in this development - if some people have to end up outside the borough there couldl be some immense bitterness in comparison to those given brand new flats - though frankly the residents with kids going to local schools etc.. ought to get priority for these, someone new to the country from Syria etc.. perhaps doesn't have the same links to the area and could be rehoused in a flat in a neighbouring borough - it isn't exactly essential to give someone brand new to the country a flat worth perhaps 3 or 4 times the price of the average UK citizen's house!

*obviously I'm referring to the repose - the tragedy itself shouldn't have happened and when the facts re: that emerge then some people might well need to be jailed etc..
 
You won't see the people who were on the rampage holding their hands up and saying the Government have done right here, they'll just move onto the next thing, standard really.
 
well the development thing isn't even the government but a combination of a property developer selling at cost, a neighbouring local authority putting up the cash and the local authority for Kensington agreeing to take on the properties
 
"Extra public money has been found to fit out the flats more quickly, and the developer has taken on more staff and relaxed working hours rules, DCLG said, with the aim of having the homes ready by the end of July"

A City of London Corporation spokeswoman said: "We are ready to do everything we can to help the victims of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower.

"We already provide council housing across seven London boroughs and are committed to delivering 3,700 new homes on sites across the capital.

"These plans are being discussed and agreed in principle as matter of urgency as part of the response by councils across London to support the team working on recovery efforts."

This push is coming from the government..
 
City of London corporation is essentially a London borough btw... this is not the government but a very generous (and rather wealthy) local authority paying for this
 
Read the last line of the statement.

"These plans are being discussed and agreed in principle as matter of urgency as part of the response by councils across London to support the team working on recovery efforts."
 
Read the last line of the statement.

"These plans are being discussed and agreed in principle as matter of urgency as part of the response by councils across London to support the team working on recovery efforts."

What are you even trying to argue here? I've already read that statement - I don't really want to go back and forth on this. You made a claim re: them being re-imbursed that is very dubious and unlikely - so far you've not backed it up...
 
Because this type of fire is impossible to fight. And because it should not happen. The rules are already in place, they were not followed, the proposed work not checked and the finished work not checked properly. Simple (?) gross negligence at so many levels.

Wasn't talking about fighting the fire - I'm talking about defensive action to save as many people as possible. Should not happen sure but you can't rule it out ever happening hence its utterly silly not to have a decent level of ability to deal with the circumstances. None the less there seemed to be little in the way of any proper contingency plan to follow and poor communications.

Sorry but this is indefensible in this day and age.
 
Looks like at least 68 of the 120 or so households will be housed in the borough:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...s-2bn-luxury-kensington-block-given-grenfell/



So much for all the bitching about how the residents are being treated * - seems like the council immediately put them up in a leisure centre on the day (along with other community groups), within a couple of days after that they're given 5k each and hotel rooms and now a neighbouring borough has rather generously donated 10 million and sorted a deal to get most of the households luxury flats at cost price. No need for requisition or compulsory purchase of unoccupied flats where there are new developments in progress.

For the people who survived, didn't lose anyone etc.. as far as people who've lost their homes in a fire are concerned they're not exactly doing too badly.

Things that could cause some bitching though - these are expensive properties, if this development is still being
built I wonder if the flats allocated to the residents will end up being in a separate block without access to th swimming pool, cinema... otherwise how the service charge could prove to be a bit tricky - people who exercised right to by for a 400k ex council flat probably won't want to now pay the several grand a year that their new millionaire neighbours pay. However if you take the sensible solution of keeping their block separate to minimise this cost then the first thing Corbyn will jump on is that there is a 'poor door' and that they're being treated as second class citizens in the development, can't use the pool etc..

I'd also wonder re: potentially anyone who sublet their apartment illegally - the family in the sublet isn't officially there and perhaps screwed... as long as the illegal submitter doesn't get caught out then they potentially could end up with a new luxury flat!

Also there were 120 or so flats in the tower block, there are only 68 bought for them in this development - if some people have to end up outside the borough there couldl be some immense bitterness in comparison to those given brand new flats - though frankly the residents with kids going to local schools etc.. ought to get priority for these, someone new to the country from Syria etc.. perhaps doesn't have the same links to the area and could be rehoused in a flat in a neighbouring borough - it isn't exactly essential to give someone brand new to the country a flat worth perhaps 3 or 4 times the price of the average UK citizen's house!

*obviously I'm referring to the repose - the tragedy itself shouldn't have happened and when the facts re: that emerge then some people might well need to be jailed etc..

"not exactly doing too badly".

Apart from the trauma of escaping from an inferno, having their homes and all their possessions and memories burned to a crisp. Not to mention it's highly likely that anyone who escaped is grieving for family, friends or neighbours who didn't.

And you're bitching about whether it's fair that some of the residents might end up better off financially after this generous offer to rehouse them in a luxury development. Well they might, but they are still going to be damaged in just about every other way. Would any of us want to be in their shoes?

And yes, I know that fires happen every day and people lose their homes and loved ones on a regular basis and usually don't get the government and charities coming to their aid quite like this. But this is an unprecedented disaster and it's symbolic of much wider issues.

As for 120 flats in the tower block and only 68 being requisitioned ..... well it's not hard to figure out why. I doubt there will be much bitterness because someone got 'left out'.
 
"not exactly doing too badly".

Apart from the trauma of escaping from an inferno, having their homes and all their possessions and memories burned to a crisp. Not to mention it's highly likely that anyone who escaped is grieving for family, friends or neighbours who didn't.

And you're bitching about whether it's fair that some of the residents might end up better off financially after this generous offer to rehouse them in a luxury development. Well they might, but they are still going to be damaged in just about every other way. Would any of us want to be in their shoes?

I'm not bitching about anything, you don't need to project your own emotions here. Yes they're not exactly doing badly (relative to victims of this type of thing) - if you can't discuss things sensibly then don't bother quoting me thanks
 
Fire retardant cladding is not a planning issue, its a Building Regulations issue.
Ahh, there's a pedant amongst us! :p

Presumably the type of cladding should have been on the planning application (assuming it needed one) and adherence to regulation would be one thing that was checked?
 
Wasn't talking about fighting the fire - I'm talking about defensive action to save as many people as possible. Should not happen sure but you can't rule it out ever happening hence its utterly silly not to have a decent level of ability to deal with the circumstances. None the less there seemed to be little in the way of any proper contingency plan to follow and poor communications.

Sorry but this is indefensible in this day and age.

It's tricky, how many fire blocks in London have turned into inferno's in the last 50 years? The current standard advice of stay in your flat unless the fire is directly effecting you/very close by is in place for a reason as is the lack of communal fire alarms. The seeming lack of a plan is worrying but understandable given the rarity of the event as is the lack of specialist kit on standby as most of it would sit in a garage never get used during it's working life and then be disposed of which everyone would call a waste of resources. It is easy with hindsight to say this that and the other should have been done but only at the end of the public enquiry will we know realistically what should have been done and wasn't and if that constitutes a crime.
 
Ahh, there's a pedant amongst us! :p

Presumably the type of cladding should have been on the planning application (assuming it needed one) and adherence to regulation would be one thing that was checked?

No, you can simplify material description down to their base principles. A simple Aluminium cassette cladding RAL 7016 would do.
 
What are you even trying to argue here? I've already read that statement - I don't really want to go back and forth on this. You made a claim re: them being re-imbursed that is very dubious and unlikely - so far you've not backed it up...

No evidence for it yet but i suspect the government will reimburse a large portion if not all, as you say, no point debating this, it's pretty moot, most important thing is progress is being made.
 
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