13-06-2025
London Fire Brigade: More flats found to have fire safety defects
Hundreds of blocks of flats in London still have serious fire safety defects, according to new figures from the London Fire Brigade (LFB).More than 1,400 buildings have simultaneous evacuation plans should a fire break out in the block, indicating that they are unsafe for residents to "stay put".Stay put - which was the initial advice for Grenfell tower and which remains the fire policy in most high-rise buildings - relies on a building being properly constructed. Regulations should prevent fire spreading from one flat to another for at least 60 Daffarn, of Grenfell United, said the latest figures showed that Londoners were "still going to sleep in buildings that aren't safe".
Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell fire in north Kensington on 14 June then, the safety of high-rise homes across the capital has been brought into focus, with the LFB checking cladding, fire doors, windows and the compartmentation of flats. The LFB said the number of buildings with simultaneous evacuation guidance in place had risen following its most recent count to 1, are 883 buildings more than 26ft (18m) tall on the evacuation list, and 565 buildings under 26ft (18m) on the list.
'We need to create a legacy'
Mr Daffarn escaped from the 16th floor of Grenfell. He said: "Eight years ago, standing underneath the burning wreckage of Grenfell Tower, I was convinced it would be the catalyst for societal change; that something so awful, which resulted in the horrific loss of 72 lives, could not happen without things changing."And yet we sit here eight years later and people are still going to sleep in buildings that aren't safe."We need to create a legacy for Grenfell that means that people that live in social housing, people that live in high-rise blocks, are treated with respect and live in safe buildings."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "[We] have been clear that the pace of remediation has been too slow for too long."That's why we are taking decisive action through our Remediation Acceleration Plan to fix unsafe buildings by 2029 faster, while we continue to support residents and identify buildings at risk."
