Residents near Grenfell estate to get compensation
Residents living in the shadow of Grenfell Tower are to get £400 compensation from the local council for each household because of delays to a scheme to refurbish their homes.Seven years ago the government and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea promised to build a "model 21st-century estate" at the Lancaster West Estate after the fatal fire at Grenfell.However, the project remains unfinished and with an £85m hole in its budget.At a meeting of the estate's tenants in Parliament on Monday evening, residents said they had been "living on a building site for the last seven years".
Abbas Dadou is a resident on the estate. He said the compensation offered was "nowhere near enough for what the residents are going through"."We had a 2.5% rent increase, so it doesn't even balance out the rent increase and service charges. The process has been painful and really long, and residents are suffering through living in a building site."We and many residents are worried that many of the blocks will be left without any refurbishment, and the promise of the 21st-century model estate is highly unlikely."Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, the Conservative leader of Kensington and Chelsea, said the authority would work with government to try to secure the £85m needed to finish the refurbishment of the estate. She told BBC London: "In the aftermath of Grenfell for the legacy of the future, for the future of the whole area, we promised together with the government that we would deliver a 21st-century estate... We made that commitment with the government that we would both finance at 50-50 and we're waiting for the government to really deliver that promise."We have a duty to the people on the Lancaster West Estate to do what we promised... you can understand why so many of them are so angry."She added that the council intended to pay the £400 in compensation "in recognition of that".
Joe Powell, Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater, said there were "legitimate questions" because some of the people who live near Grenfell Tower, "most notably in the Lancaster West Estate, had been living on a building site since even before the fire"."I totally understand why they are frustrated about the pace of the major works and I think the key message from tonight is they want the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and this central government, Labour government to come together and find a solution," he said.Mr Powell said there was "an £85m gap in the budget to complete the refurbishment of the entire estate, which was promised to the residents directly after the fire".He added: "I would far rather the government and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea come together and figure out how to close that gap rather than to give people false hope." The building safety minister, Alex Norris, who was at the meeting, would not be drawn on whether the government would find all of the money. It will be eight years since the Grenfell fire tragedy on 14 June and it will be the last anniversary before work starts in the autumn to take down the tower.
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