Grenfell family face removal from home. RBKC deny this. Then POLICE knocked on the door.

[HelenaDove]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47898652

Grenfell family 'face removal from home'

A family who survived the Grenfell Tower fire has said they are set to be moved out of their temporary home, as the council will no longer pay for it.

Mahad Egal and Jamie Murray and their two young children want to stay in the property, but Kensington and Chelsea Council has said it is "no longer suitable" and will not renew it.

It has offered the family alternative temporary housing instead.

The council says that it has not threatened anyone with eviction.

The couple has previously been offered a permanent home, but declined it over fears about the use of aluminium, although the council said that all its homes for survivors were safe

The couple and their two children, aged three and five, escaped from the fourth floor of Grenfell Tower during the fire in June 2017, in which 72 people died.

They moved into a permanent home last month, but within three weeks had returned to their temporary accommodation - which they first entered in August 2017.

Ms Murray told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that the permanent home had been connected to a building with aluminium decorative casing around the windows.

They could see this through the living room window and it made them feel unsafe following their experiences of the fire.

The council said the material was not flammable and was "one of the safest forms of rain-screening building material available in the industry".

But Ms Murray said: "We were given similar reassurances when we lived in Grenfell Tower.

"[The council] are talking about physical safety, [but] you telling me that I am safe does not make me feel safe.

Ms Murray added that the stress of their present situation had caused her to experience vomit-inducing anxiety and made her flashbacks worse.

In the last two weeks she said she has also suffered a miscarriage.

The family added that moving from one property to another with two children would be "stressful and unnecessary" and Mr Egal was reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

They said the next time they move, they want it to be their permanent "forever" home.
'No culture change'

The couple said they were now effectively being evicted from their current temporary accommodation.

In a legal letter seen by the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Kensington and Chelsea Council state that it was "no longer suitable".

The family now say they fear leaving the home in case they are not allowed back in.

Mr Egal told the BBC that "every day from now on is a potential eviction day" and he feared the effect it would have on their children.

He added that the council has paid the rent for last week and the weekend just gone, but that is it.

Local Labour MP Emma Dent Coad said the council saw some Grenfell survivors as "troublesome" and wanted to "clear the decks" before the second anniversary of the tragedy on 14 June.

She said there was "no culture change" at the council, and she could see no justification "at all" for wanting to move the family from their temporary accommodation.

Kensington and Chelsea Council said in a statement: "We have worked with more than 180 households from Grenfell Tower to find them a suitable, permanent home.

"A small number of families find they have trouble settling into their new property and if they wish to move, we will find them suitable temporary housing while they consider what they want for the long term.

"All our homes for Grenfell [survivors] are safe and secure.

"We have not threatened any Grenfell survivor with eviction from their property."

In the week of the fire i remember a survivor telling Alok Sharma that he wasnt prepared to keep moving his young daughter from here to here to here to here. They KNEW that it was going to be like this, And they have been proved right.

twitter.com/vicderbyshire/status/1117761835623747586

Victoria Derbyshire
‏Verified account @vicderbyshire
4h4 hours ago

Exclusive: a Grenfell family says they’re facing eviction from their temporary home. *@RBKC say they aren’t evicting any Grenfell survivors. Yet a legal letter I’ve seen from ⁦**@RBKC*⁩ says Mahad Egal’s temp home is ‘no longer suitable’. Then police knocked on his door.

In the twitter link there is a recording of the police visit.

I thought that, with these offers of housing, you could only turn down so many before they take you off the list completely - certainly that's how it works round here

Is RBKC the same, does anyone know?

www.24housing.co.uk/news/grenfell-survivors-attack-incompetent-ministers/?fbclid=IwAR1NUl7cbzgVhu7zcrEdW4EdQoBwyDs4oQsOe_fDh1wEz8_crWVW_FSvz-s

"Grenfell survivors attack ‘incompetent’ ministers

After two years of meetings with the government over safety reform, Grenfell United (GU) have been met with “little action”.

Grenfell United, the towers survivors group has publicly called out the Prime Minister and “indifferent and incompetent” ministers over a lack of action over building safety and social housing reform.

As reported by the group, which represents around 95% of survivors and bereaved, 22 months’ worth of private meetings with the PM and housing ministers to try to influence policy has been met with “too little action.”

The group is said to currently be planning a campaign to rally people across the county behind its demands for safe homes and for tenants to be treated with respect.

Formed five days after the fire, the survivors saw some success when ministers banned combustible aluminium combustible material (ACM) cladding on new high rises and pledged to invest around £400m on social sector towers.

However, the group has reported that no money has been allocated for the private sector towers affected and so far, only 89 of the 226 high-rise residential buildings with ACM cladding have been made safe.

Edward Daffarn, 56, a founding member of the group, and Natasha Elcock, 42, its chairwoman, said they now had no confidence that the Prime Minister would keep her promise to bring lasting reform to social housing.

Mr Daffarn added: “It has taken us 22 months to understand that if we carry on in a dignified and kind way we may never get the change that we need.

“It feels like it’s always us having to seek meetings with them, we never get any feedback.

“The government action can best be summed as indifferent and incompetent. We organised a meeting with the government seven weeks ago to propose a new model of housing regulator but since then, we have had no contact from Kit Malthouse, the housing minister.”

According to GU, the government has yet to publish a “promised” white paper on social housing reform, with a decision still not made to help the local community decide on the future of the Grenfell site.

“We will continue to work with Grenfell United and others to ensure that social homes are safe, issues are resolved quickly and residents’ voices are heard,” a government spokesman added"

Where’s all the money raised gone exactly, surely some of tyat would have bought houses even in London

It’s easier to demonize the victims of the fire than just to deal with them like they are humans, with complex needs following this trauma. It’s NOT actually that hard to house the limited amount of the survivors within this ridiculously rich council borough.

They just pretend it is to cover up the fact that the biggest ‘difficulty’ is the attitude and apathy towards doing so.

Yes the father may be irritating in this case, and have refused a permanent option due to emotive grounds, vs a hard and fast rational case re inadequate housing. However, are we only supposed to house the ‘worthiness of victims’? And must they be struck off everyone’s agenda the second they behave in any way unlike a victim is supposed to?

As for that poor disabled woman. I’m disabled and can very well relate. It would be utterly soul breaking to have been forced to live as she has lived. And yes, why the need for TWO sodding OH’s and a PA when I’m sure it’s perfectly clear what alterations need doing. Bet it comes out of a different budget though, and I bet she doesn’t end up with a kitchen that she can use herself. It’s a common issue with disability, councils seem to prefer to provide help that leaves the disabled person dependent and only a few hours from a crisis if a PA/ carer doesn’t arrive (or if funding gets cut etc, rather than do alterations that are a larger initial outlay but give the disabled person independence for longer. It’s that short sightedness about budgets that wins out time and again. Cheaper outlay to provide a carer than change an entrance or redo a kitchen, Sven though added up over the years it’s coearly hugely more expensive.

So bloody frustrating.

I wonder if the preference for carers and other pretty useless but costly interventions has anything to do with cozy relationships between individuals on LA committees and those who run companies contracted to provide services.

@mathanxiety You couldnt make it up.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/02/anger-grenfell-boss-invited-speak-housing-safety-event

www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/merle-court-evictions-1-6029978?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social_Icon&utm_campaign=in_article_social_icons

"Defects in South Kilburn block results in all occupiers forced to move home

All occupiers of a housing block in South Kilburn will be forced to move out due to “defects” with the building.

Merle Court, a development owned by Catalyst Housing, was built by Willmott Dixon in 2012 as part of the much lauded South Kilburn regeneration project.

Of the 50 occupiers, eight own and rent their homes as part of a shared ownership deal and 42 are social tenants.

They attended a meeting on Tuesday after this paper had gone to press.

The building is clad in aluminium composite material (ACM), similar to the material used to cover Grenfell Tower. In the wake of the fire there in 2017, the Merle Court cladding was deemed safe.

But last year government regulations changed and now the cladding needs to be replaced and other defects dealt with. Catalyst would not say what these were

Writing to residents, the housing association said: “We knew there were other faults within the external walls that required attention, but this new guidance has significantly increased the amount of work needed to Merle Court.

All of the brickwork as well as the cladding will be removed and replaced to enable Catalyst to “rectify defects, replace insulation and undertake other works to the block”. It is expected to take two years.

Some tenants will be offered another Catalyst property while others will have to bid on the council's Locata system.

Catalyst will buy back shared ownership flats at “current market value” but pricing structures where occupiers pay a mortgage and pay rent may impact leaseholders.

Kilburn councillor Abdi Abdirazak said: “We are very concerned about the situation. We are waiting to see whether the relocation and compensation packages meet and fulfil the needs of the leaseholders and tenants.”

He added: “We need to understand why Catalyst hasn't moved on this, particularly as the problem with cladding has been known for some time.”

Pete Firmin, chair of Alpha, Gorfield and Canterbury Residents' Association, added: “There's a big issue about the quality of what's being built in South Kilburn and Brent needs to look at that.”

A Catalyst spokesperson said households would be spoken to individually. “Catalyst is determined to do the right thing, to provide support to everyone in Merle Court during the rehousing process, and ensure residents' rights are protected and no one is left out of pocket as a result of the works.”

There was no comment on why the company did not act earlier."

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/04/experts-warned-of-fire-spread-risks-two-years-before-grenfell

The American tendency to litigiousness that is so often derided in the UK would be a great asset.

@wellisthisisshit " ridiculously rich council borough. " RBKC is a mixed income borough. As are many London boroughs.

@MorrisZapp @mathanxiety @Nicknacky

www.thesun.co.uk/news/9284495/grenfell-survivor-fire-hazard-flat-hotel/

2 YEARS OF PAIN Grenfell survivor whose dad died in blaze is finally rehomed in fire hazard flat where water pours through ceiling

A GRENFELL survivor whose dad died in the blaze is back living in a hotel after the home given to him became a FIRE hazard and started leaking.

Bobby Ross, 29, is currently staying in a Kensington hotel after being forced to leave his new flat when water started pouring through a light socket.

He was hoping to be rehomed after his flat on the 15th floor was destroyed in the fire which claimed the lives of 72 people.

But after entering the two-bed flat in Hammersmith earlier this week, he quickly noticed it was leaking and unsafe so moved out without spending the night.

Exclusive footage obtained by The Sun Online - the day before the second anniversary of the tragedy - shows water pouring from the ceiling and emerging from the doorframe.
EIGHTH HOTEL SINCE BLAZE

Kensington and Chelsea Council were then forced to move him into a hotel – his eighth since the devastating fire.

One of the victims was his dad Steve Power, 63, who died with his three Staffordshire Bull Terriers wrapped around him after being advised to stay in his flat.

Bobby had left the flat to buy some food at midnight on the day of the fire and returned to see it completely ablaze

He has been left feeling suicidal after he lost his dad and did not move from the base of tower desperately waiting and hoping that his dad would be found alive.

Some have even had mice. And the latest flat that I had to move out of this week was a fire hazard as water leaked over the light fittings.
Bobby Ross

Bobby has effectively been homeless for two years, disastrously rehoused numerous times by the council who have provided him with totally inadequate housing solutions.

His furious girlfriend said: “He will be the only bereaved resident in a hotel on the anniversary.”

Describing the aftermath of the fire, Bobby said: “I didn’t eat anything and I didn’t sleep during that first 48 hours.

“For maybe over 15 years my dad had been telling them about how dangerous the tower was. He was continually ignored.

BOTTOM OF THE LIST

“If there is a pile, a list, then I feel like I have been left at the very bottom. Many times I have attempted or considered suicide.”

Describing some of the homes he lived in since, he added: “Some have even had mice. And the latest flat that I had to move out of this week was a fire hazard as water leaked over the light fittings.

“Now, two years on from the fire I am one of if not the only survivor back living at a hotel. It’s been a rollercoaster.

"Every time I feel like a chance is happening for me with a new property, something always happens. There’s always work that needs to be done.

“I’m not able to move in. I haven’t been able to move on. I’ve been very low. I have had a few suicide attempts.

“Mentally I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”

I’m not able to move in. I haven’t been able to move on. I’ve been very low. I have had a few suicide attempts.

Tomorrow marks 24 months since a small kitchen fire in the building turned into the most deadly domestic blaze since the Second World War.

Bereaved families will gather for a memorial service at the nearby St Helen's Church in the morning, which will set the tone for a day of remembrance.

For just over a year the building has stood surrounded by white sheeting, with banners featuring the green Grenfell heart and the words "Grenfell forever in our hearts" emblazoned across it.

Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, told The Sun Online: “We have been working hard to make the properties we bought for bereaved, survivors and their families into a place they can call home, working with them to do so in incredibly complex circumstances.

This hasn’t been simple – it was never going to be. We had experienced housing officers making this clear to people two years ago.

“We are nearly there, but we will not be rushing the last few families to meet artificial deadlines.

“There is currently one household in a hotel, and 184 families have a permanent home.

“Council staff have never stopped caring and never stopped working, and this will continue to be the case when every family is in their new home and starting to rebuild their lives, and we are working with our colleagues in the NHS who will be crucial for this long-term effort.

Why are you tagging me in that post?

Because of your previous comments on the thread about distrust

You really, really don’t need to tag me in news paper articles about this.

duly noted.

This was an horrendous disaster for all the residents. The majority of survivors have been rehoused but a minority are fighting for something that may not be possible.
Surely they should be paid appropriate compensation for trauma, loss of possessions and rehoming costs. Also be rehoused where suitable. But this guy is just taking the piss now.
Regardless of what people think about the council, it's ultimately the residents who pay council tax who will carry the costs of this.