Two thirds of Grenfell Tower residents still in emergency accommodation

The majority of residents made homeless after the Grenfell Tower fire remain in emergency accommodation seven weeks on from the devastating blaze.

Less than a third of the offers for temporary or permanent accommodation have been accepted by survivors of the blaze, in which at least 80 people died, figures from the Grenfell Response Team (GRT) show. Some 48 offers have been accepted out of the 175 initial offers, the GRT said, with just 13 households rehoused.

Justice 4 Grenfell said the “stark” figures were “testament to the continuing misery and suffering people are enduring, people who’ve had such horrific and damaging experiences that even with exemplary care and rapid re-housing, it will take many years to recover”. The GRT said it was dealing with “severely traumatised” people and did not want to rush anyone into making a decision.

Multiple offers were being made with no pressure on households to move into a property, it said.
Anne Baxendale, director of communications, policy and campaigns at Shelter, said: “The people affected by Grenfell are deeply traumatised, don’t trust the council and need some stability, not another short-term solution.

“Ultimately, everyone affected by Grenfell must be rehoused in local permanent social housing within a year with rents similar to those they were paying before. “While this is ambitious, and the authorities will struggle due to a severe lack of social housing, it can be done.

“And in the long term, it’s crucial we build the genuinely affordable housing that families on low incomes, both in Grenfell and the rest of the country, desperately need.”