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Grenfell council plans to set aside £40m for housing association homes
Kensington and Chelsea Council has set aside £40m to subsidise rents for survivors of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire in June.
A report to the council’s leadership team last week revealed the money is intended to cover any financial loss a housing association may face from housing survivors.
The council promised Grenfell residents they would not have to pay rent, service charge, council tax or utility bills on their new homes for a year. The properties will also be let at social rents.
The cash will only be used to subsidise rents to keep them at a social rent level. A spokesperson for the council said the government is covering cost of residents’ service charges, council tax and utilities bills.
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The report said a number of housing associations had committed to making new build and empty homes available for Grenfell residents.
Notting Hill Housing Trust owns two leasehold properties at Grenfell Tower. The report noted that communities secretary Sajid Javid is “strongly of the view” that Notting Hill should only receive the fire insurance payment on these properties.
A spokesperson for Notting Hill Housing Trust said: “We remain in conversation with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea about the insurance arrangements for our two leasehold properties in Grenfell Tower. It would be inappropriate to comment on the Secretary of State’s view while those discussions continue. Our properties in Grenfell Tower were used to house people on the council’s waiting list who would otherwise have been homeless and our priority is to ensure that we can continue to do that in partnership with RBKC.”
Other leaseholders who buy a new home should be offered the market value of their properties before the fire, Mr Javid has told the council. The spokesperson said leaseholders could get an interest-free loan from the council up to 150% of the flat’s market value before the fire.
The council is also seeking to immediately start buying homes for sale on the open market, mainly within the areas neighbouring Grenfell Tower, and will use £20m from its reserves.
There is a “significant shortfall” of one-bed properties, the report said. The council has found properties with a price range of £500,000 to £1.5m.
Currently the council is spending more than £1,000 per household each week on temporary accommodation following the fire, the report stated.
Update: at 4.50pm on 23.08.17 This story was updated to include Notting Hill Housing Trust’s statement.
Never Again campaign
Inside Housing has launched a campaign to improve fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire
Never Again: campaign asks
Inside Housing is calling for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
LANDLORDS
- Take immediate action to check cladding and external panels on tower blocks and take prompt, appropriate action to remedy any problems
- Update risk assessments using an appropriate, qualified expert.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
GOVERNMENT
- Provide urgent advice on the installation and upkeep of external insulation
- Update and clarify building regulations immediately – with a commitment to update if additional learning emerges at a later date from the Grenfell inquiry
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.
The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.
