'What are we going to do differently now?' asks Basildon building director after Grenfell Tower report
Morello Quarter, home to 3000 people, deemed 'high risk to life' for over 6 years
Last updated 6th Sep 2024
Today the Grenfell Inquiry published its second and final report into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017.
The director of a residents building in Basildon - trapped in the building safety crisis - is calling for "action" not just "answers".
Morello Quarter (or Cherrydown East) is a site of flats in Basildon, Essex. There's 426 flats, roughly home to 3000 people.
After the Grenfell Tower fire, Morello Quarter was deemed a "high risk to life" and has had that status for over six years.
According to the Grenfell Tower Phase 2 report, they are one of 4630 buildings with this lowest level status.
Jennifer Viccars is a volunteer director of the Residents Management Company at Morello Quarter.
She says, "Our building was part of the building safety fund, we got all the money, had some designs with concrete render, but then government changed their position and tried to hold developers and builders responsible."
"So we got moved into the responsibility of the developer", says Viccars.
"Our developer, Weston Homes has signed the government pledge but the proposed works won't remove all the fire risk."
"Insurance costs have skyrocketed and barely anyone has been able to sell their flat in 7 years unless for a cash sale at a huge discount."
Ms Viccars continues, "what the report has done is highlight how little progress has been made. I thought we were a particularly bad case, but we're not even in the hundreds we're in the thousands."
"All these people have got worthless homes, hideous running costs and are living in death traps - if you believe that materials is what caused Grenfell fire which is what the report says."
"This is about all the different parties and stakeholders actually finding a standard and a solution that they all feel comfortable with."
In terms of solutions, she says "the pieces just don't make sense".
"A huge amount of effort has gone into this inquiry which is exactly the justice that those victims and their families need."
"Now that we have this knowledge, what are we going to do differently?"
"Because any attempts to solve this so far, either by the government saying the developer should pay, trying to put up a fund but there wasn't enough funding, trying to change regulation and lower it down... that all hasn't worked."
She continues, "this is about all the different parties and stakeholders actually finding a standard and a solution that they all feel comfortable with."
"But in the meantime I can't help but be cross with the government for ever reigning back their position."
"Grenfell was a disaster. Its legacy should not also be a tragedy."
The End Our Cladding Scandal group have said,
"The Inquiry Report spells out what we have known for years:
• weak regulations left the door wide open for corruption and incompetence
• successive governments have cared more about cosy relationships with house builders than they have about the people who live in these homes
• manufacturers and developers have wilfully cut corners to make a quick profit.
They continue, "We now ask Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to do what is necessary to put right this mess.
• First, our homes must be made safe.
• Those who are responsible should be made to pay, and where it warrants, should be held accountable in law.
• And lasting and progressive change needs to be made to the building industry in this country to ensure that this can never happen again.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in homes with the same risk that there was in Grenfell seven years ago. This must change quickly. Grenfell was a disaster. Its legacy should not also be a tragedy."
Weston Homes
Weston Homes have said they are,
"committed to carrying out and covering the cost for the required remedial work at Morello Quarter (Cherrydown East), which will deliver the standard of safety required by the Building Safety pledge."
"In 2022 we had agreed to carry out these works ourselves and were at an advanced stage of making the requirement arrangements to do so.
"During 2023 the responsible entity for the residents of Cherrydown East wanted to explore the option of Government funding with a view to appointing their own chosen contractor and managing the remedial works themselves, for the Government to then claim back the costs from Weston Homes via the new Building Safety Fund (BSF) process. We have previously agreed to repay the related costs incurred to date by the residents.
"Early in 2024, the responsible entity decided after all that Weston Homes could manage the works; however, at this point a new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) procedure was introduced which has meant that Weston Homes has to make a very detailed application to them prior to carrying out these works. This will be submitted in September. As soon as the application is accepted by the BSR, we will instruct our appointed contractor to commence the works immediately.
"Weston Homes are aware of the urgency with which the residents wish this to be resolved and our team is ready to commence the works."
"Hold people to account"
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner says she's now putting a plan together to speed up the removal of dangerous cladding from buildings across the UK:
"We need to make sure we're working at pace because it's not acceptable that people are living in these buildings that still need remediation", says Angela Rayner.
She has admitted there are challenges in removing dangerous cladding from buildings across the UK.
"One of the challenges has been about identifying the owners of those buildings because some are offshore in Shell companies and really getting to the crux of how we can hold people to account," says Rayner.