Grenfell ex-residents should get a 3-bed house with a garden if that's what they want

[pingodolcepo]

Daily mail outrage that some of the residents are asking for a 3-bed house with a garden. But honestly, they have been through a living hell that was caused by someone else's very bad choices.

There are plenty of people in London that have a 3 bed council house, why can't these people that have dealt with horrors get one also?

I know someone that got a council house in Highgate in the 80s, was a cabbie with a good wage, bought it when offered and sold it a few years ago for over a million and now lives in a fab place with loads of land and a pool in the south of France. If plenty of normal people got houses why can't these poor residents get one? They won't ever be able to afford to buy it due to the high cost of london houses now.

Forgot to add - she was rehoused in days.

No. They should be given what they need, not what they are demanding, no more, no less.

Someone was making a lot of money by doing shoddy building work on the cheap and that person is probably now living in a mansion doing very nicely thank you. So let's claw back some of that money and use it to pay these poor people some compensation. I don't know if council housing is available for everyone but let's not say there is no money in the economy. Yes there is and its all going to the very rich and the property tycoons and company directors who are making a fortune out of the tax payer and probably not paying taxes themselves with their clever accountants and offshore bank accounts.

And who gets to decide what they “need”? Remember, they have been asking for sprinklers to make their block safer and it was decided on their behalf that they didn’t “need” any!

Jazzy - I heard that decision to not install sprinklers was taken by a panel that consisted of some of the residents 😳 they considered it too disruptive after all the upheaval the tenants had been subjected to during the big refurb.

No they shouldn't, they should get what they need, not what they want.

Houses dont appear by magic. People may have to move away, like many others do when circumstances force it. They will learn to cope like others do.

Where the fuck is all this social housing coming from?
Maybe Santa will bring it?
Ffs people can't have what doesn't exist!

It would be cruelty to rehouse them in another tower block, I imagine many if not all have a degree of PTSD. But the reality of 3 bed houses with gardens simply isn't going to happen because they don't exist in sufficient numbers.

I don't know what the answer is, I wish I did.

I wonder what would have happened if Grenfell had been a block of middle class private tenants (the cladding is on lots of buildings, not just council tower blocks)? Would they be given new homes or would they be told (after a very brief period of sympathy) that they needed to find new private rentals after a certain amount of time (and if nothing similar or affordable was available that they would need to move to where they can afford). Grenfell was a terrible tragedy but it has been hugely politicized (and we have a housing crisis because of both Thatcher and Blair, one selling off all the council housing to get votes, the other not building any whilst encouraging Buy-to-let and mass immigration).

I would imagine if you had a three bed in the tower and couldn't go back to living in a tower because of trauma then asking for s three bed house instead of a flat in a tower is not unreasonable. DM will always twist it so that these poor people who saw epic death and destruction add just freeloaders.
And of course people want to stay in the area, if you had kids in local schools it would be another level of trauma to have to start a new school.
Jesus where is the empathy people.

mother what are you on about?
Are you seriously suggesting that being working class is an advantage for these people?
What a ridiculous argument. One I expect you have oft repeated since the fire happened.

FYI for every one person nodding in agreement there will be at least 10 thinking you sound like an idiot.

They should be held to the same criteria as any other homeless person in that area. Top priority banding and having to accept a home which they are offered.

Has anyone looked at banding criteria these days. Living in an overcrowded house with an outside toilet and no kitchen puts you in a band C here. And band C isn’t ever getting you a house. They all go to Band A andvery occasionally a Band B (usually a studio on a sink estate).

What a silly post mother. The point is this was a block owned by the council. It it was a private block the residents would equally be going after the owners and it would be just as political.

I think people shouldn't expect to live in the area, I know people traveling a huge distance in london to get to school. But they should get houses if they dont want to live in a flat again.

What a silly post mother. The point is this was a block owned by the council. It it was a private block the residents would equally be going after the owners and it would be just as political.

I think people shouldn't expect to live in the area, I know people traveling a huge distance in london to get to school. But they should get houses if they dont want to live in a flat again.

What a silly post mother. The point is this was a block owned by the council. It it was a private block the residents would equally be going after the owners and it would be just as political.

I think people shouldn't expect to live in the area, I know people traveling a huge distance in london to get to school. But they should get houses if they dont want to live in a flat again.

What a silly post mother. The point is this was a block owned by the council. It it was a private block the residents would equally be going after the owners and it would be just as political.

I think people shouldn't expect to live in the area, I know people traveling a huge distance in london to get to school. But they should get houses if they dont want to live in a flat again.

They will be in the top priority because they have all been made homeless.
Some will have enhanced priority because of ill health, disability etc.

They will be offered housing outside the borough and some will be happy to take it.

They should be offered adequate housing in their areas of choice. The thing that should be different for them is that the council should not discharge their responsibility to rehouse if they turn down unsuitable offers.
That rule is bad enough at the best of times.

Many many Grenfell children are still in temporary accommodation this xmas.

Can I post this, it's from the Grenfell campaigners to remember those lost:

I don’t think there is any easy answer or should there be any expectation towards either sides

The fire and death toll was horrendous. The effects on the residents lives will last forever I would imagine.

I can understand residents not wanting to be in a high rise again.

But there has to be a realistic step forward. People cannot be housed in a property that doesn’t exist.

If you are entitled to a 3 bed property you can only have a 3 bed that’s available.

If you want to stay in a certain area you can only have housing available in that area.

As difficult as it is to separate the emotion towards those involved it needs to be done in order to have a practice solution.

Some need to live in the area due to work / school commitments, others don’t. Don’t believe Daily Fail reporting as they rarely if ever report the truth.

I think people shouldn't expect to live in the area, I know people traveling a huge distance in london to get to school. But they should get houses if they dont want to live in a flat again.

Where are the houses going to come from? Most people in London live in flats (not just council tenants - most people, private renters and homeowners) - there simply isn't the room for lots and lots of houses. A garden is certainly a luxury that most people in London won't have. Most £2m pound houses in my borough don't have gardens!

I would love nothing more than for the poor Grenfell residents who've been through such trauma and will have horrendous PTSD to be able to stay in the local area and not have to live in high rise again. But the idea that there's 3 bed council houses with gardens at all in K&C, let alone loads of them going spare, is fantastical

Where are all these 3 bed council houses with gardens going to come from? Especially in the local area?

If they don't exist it is unreasonable to demand them.

"Oh they should just move"

They've been through an unimaginable horror. They've lost friends/relatives/neighbours. It could just maybe be they need the bonds they have made in the local community to manage what they're going through.

There isn't a magic solution.

on R4 this morning one official said that there are more applications for housing than there were originally families in the building as people 'living with' a family (friend/grandma/aunty/uncle etc) all now want there own property....I don't know central London but there can't be much vacant council housing in that area

Yes I heard her spinning that, she also implied that the delays were the fault of the people in temporary accommodation not wanting to be moved away form the area and into private housing (with all the lack of security that represents). I thought it was disgusting. Frankly I wouldn't trust K&C council any further than I could throw them if I were a tenant.

As for splitting up families being spun as tenants being grabby - one reason for it was families agreeing that its easier to find smaller units by splitting up, rather than needing 3/4 bedrooms to stay together.

Grenfell was a national disgrace borne out of greed, neglect and incompetence. The council has massive reserves built up over years of cuts benefiting the wealthier end of the borough. They didn't just ignore tenants raising concerns about safety - the took action against them.

So yes frankly they can use those reserves to provide some decent housing for their victims.