Inside the building safety scandal

With more than 90% of flats identified as needing remediation still unsafe, End Our Cladding Scandal’s Giles Grover reflects on the ongoing challenges for leaseholders.

Seventy-two lives were lost in the catastrophic Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, and we know now from evidence at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry that the warning signs of the building safety crisis had been ignored for decades. It was only in the aftermath of that tragedy that the truth slowly emerged about the scale of the crisis and how many other people were affected across the country. It was not just about external cladding defects, not just tower blocks, and not just social housing – it was much more widespread.

What we didn’t know then was how many years it would take to put things right. It seems wholly uncontentious to say that everyone deserves to live in a safe home where they can take care of their family and make plans for their future; a safe home is the foundation for building a life in which we can all fulfil our potential. The scale of the horror that unfolded at Grenfell should also have been more than enough to act with urgency to make homes safe.

Yet despite the oft-repeated and well-meaning refrains of “never again” from politicians, at the end of 2023, hundreds of thousands of people remain trapped in unsafe and unsellable flats. While there has been a necessary focus on improving standards for the future, there has been too little action, at the scale needed, to make existing homes safe.

As part of the Fire Protection Association's continuing commitment to increase fire safety awareness across the built environment, a number of informative feature articles are available to read on our website. You can read the full article here.