Grenfell Residents Warn Against Plan To Change Tenant Management Body

Grenfell residents have said new proposals to fundamentally change the council’s tenant management organisation could prevent it from being properly scrutinised by the Grenfell Tower inquiry and the police investigation into the fire. Kensington and Chelsea Tenants Management Organisation (KCTMO) managed Grenfell Tower and thousands of other council homes in the borough before the fire which claimed 72 lives. Residents want to ensure that any actions taken by the KCTMO before the fire that could have contributed to the tragedy have been fully investigated and that the KCTMO would be held fully accountable if any wrongdoing on their part has been identified. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/26/grenfell-residents-warn-against-plan-to-change-council-management-body-kctmo

Residents Avoid Re-Cladding Costs On £225m Scheme

Residents at a £225m Mace development in London found to have Grenfell-style cladding will not be forced to pay for its removal. Mace confirmed that remedial work would now be carried out on two blocks at the £225m Greenwich Square scheme but that it would come at no extra cost to residents. Last month, CN revealed the cladding on the development needed to be replaced after it was found to be category 3 ACM cladding, the most combustible of the three ACM cladding types. In the letter to residents seen by CN, Mace said that after “complex work” investigating the matter the company had decided that two blocks at the development will require remedial work. Read more on the Construction News website.

https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/10033213.article

Where People Live In London Is A 'Judgement Call' Says Brandon Lewis

Housing minister Brandon Lewis has said Londoners had to make a “judgment call” about whether they could afford to live in the capital. The MP said the Government had to be “up front” about the thousands of people unable to afford soaring rents and house prices in central London. However, he said plans to build 200,000 new starter homes and boost the Help to Buy loan scheme were a “game-changer”. Mr Lewis refused to guarantee that the cash raised from forcing councils to sell their most expensive properties to fund discounts for housing association properties would be used to build more homes in the capital. Read more on the Evening Standard website.