The Grenfell Tragedy in numbers

A breakdown of numbers since the fire on 14 June 2017

Author: Danielle SaundersPublished 13th Jun 2022
Last updated 13th Jun 2022

The 14 June 2022 marks five years since the Grenfell Tower fire, the anniversary of the 2017 blaze that killed 72 people.

Since the fire, there have been four housing secretaries, three evacuated families are still awaiting permanent homes, and two phases of a public inquiry into the tragedy.

The poignant number 72 is being displayed around North Kensington on green hearts, which have become a symbol of the tragedy, as bereaved families, survivors and the community come together to remember those lost.

Here is a breakdown of the statistics behind the tragedy, the response and aftermath:

Response and aftermath

  • £5.1 billion funding promised by the Government to replace unsafe cladding in all buildings over 18m in height in England, made up of £3.5 billion promised in 2021, and £1.6 billion promised in 2020.
  • 201 - households needed rehoming after the fire, three of these are still in temporary homes according to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
  • 1,826 - days in the five years since the fire took place.
London, UK. 16th June 2018. A large crowd marches from Downing St to the Home Office in solidarity with the 72 killed and the survivors of the 2017 Grenfell fire, at a protest organised by Justice4Grenfell and the FBU (Fire Brigades Union.)

Buildings

  • 486 - buildings over 18m tall that were identified as having Grenfell-style cladding on them.
  • 58 - buildings over 18m tall that have yet to have their cladding removed as of May 2022.
  • 1,149 - buildings in London that require emergency measures such as waking watches due to fire safety issues.

Housing secretaries

Four housing secretaries- now known as 'Levelling Up'.

  • Michael Gove: 2021 to 2022.
  • Robert Jenrick: 2019 to 2021.
  • James Brokenshire: 2018 to 2019
  • Sajid Javid: 2018

Rehousing of survivors

  • As of 8 June: Three families in temporary homes and 198 households in permanent homes.
  • £406 million - approximate amount spent by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on its response and recovery efforts as of May of last year.

Public inquiry

  • 1,730 - days since the opening of the Grenfell inquiry.
  • 644 - the total number of core participants in the inquiry, including civil servants, politicians and survivors.
  • £149 million - amount spent by the inquiry as of March 2022, according to figures obtained by The Guardian, the overall cost - including legal fees not covered by the inquiry - is on course to exceed a quarter of a billion pounds.
  • 96 - the number of people who former Department for Communities and Local Government secretary Lord Pickles said died in the Grenfell fire during his testimony to the inquiry.

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