Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

The same materials are used all over this country, all around the world, and on all sorts of buildings. Are they all wrong?

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

well if they are there's going to be a shortage of luxury flats on the market

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

Probably not all wrong no, but as I said, I don't think the people in any affected blocks and their political/other representatives will care about any of that now. They'll probably be panicking about the prospect of fire and what to do in the event that it happens - stay put or leave? There's political capital to be made and lost here now, that's what's going to determine what happens.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

watching the opening of parliament yesterday i was quite disgusted at corbin laying blame for the fire and lack of sprinklers etc the flats were built in the 70's so every government since then has failed on fire precautions not just the present one

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

I quite agree that successive governments since the late 1960's (when the original plans were drawn up) should hang their heads in shame but I think we all know it's the party in power who cop for it - just like playing a horrific game of musical chairs or pass the parcel.

Whilst scoring political points from the blame game is (rightly) frowned upon, I wouldn't be surprised if in the coming months the Government in power at the time tries to score political points for the inevitable upgrades coming to many high-rise buildings.

Cheers

Dave

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

I have no knowledge of who is to be rehoused, but as the illegals are to receive cash payments, even though they had no right to be in the country, let alone in the tower block, I'm just wondering if this generosity with taxpayers money will extend to being rehoused too.

The legitimate tenants will have passed the housing test, but the hangers on won't. It's well known that illegal immigrants or those whose asylum application has been refused are often helped out by those legally allowed to be in the UK.

Even those there legally and being paid for by NAS are bound to be resented by homeless London born people. Their rent is paid directly by NAS, no forms to complete or benefit caps to worry about. No two child limit as is now the case for British citizens. No Council Tax to worry about, landlords have to pay the bill on properties occupied by Asylum Seekers. Full use of the NHS, with no pesky prescription charges to worry about. Above all, they have somewhere to live!

There's been a bit of a furore at the local Jobcentre. Initially, the Jobcentre said that people would have to sign on and look for work as normal, however, after complaints they have agreed to give people leniency.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

in my opinion, at this time it doesn't matter what status they are. They have been through a truely horrific experience and may have lost friends and family. They need re housing, help in getting themselves sorted out materially and mentally. After that the authorities can determine who should and shouldn't have been there.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

Two good article's here from fire experts.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...k-tower-blocks

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/london-...pert-1.4163560

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

So as I keep saying, the insulation is the real problem and there are no signs of that being removed on other buildings, eg Premier Inn, Brentford(same stuff used there). Just because there was a change to the make and type of rainscreen panels, the focus has been misdirected on them.

From the published plans, although there may be later unpublished ones, the regulations may not may been properly followed. From the list of the planning documents the full overcladding plans were deleted some time ago. Even if the plans were incorrect, I would have expected enough other people with routine experience of installing the cladding, to have some idea about the regulations and see that they might not have been followed at the time.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

It is true what the residents are saying though. It does take a disaster and loss of life for anything to happen, or anyone to take notice. Same with the ferry disaster in 1987, where 193 died before they thought they'd better make safety improvements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Her...ree_Enterprise

Safety improvements usually cost money, which is where it usually stops, until a disaster.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

one of the main problems is where do you put the tenants while a tower block is being brought up to standard .

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

they seem to have found somewhere to put the Grenfell residents now, always ways and means.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

pure luck that those flats are available rehousing 5-600 people isn't that easy in London or any city these days

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

Indeed it is not easy rehousing that amount generally.

Re: Huge fire at West London tower block
 

It's pure chance that they were available but there'll always be those who believe there's plenty of empty housing just ready to be occupied in London.

Yes it'd be just like the money grabbing landlords to leave properties empty in large numbers and miss out on all that cash they spend night and day trying to accumulate at the expense of society. :rolleyes:

They're only interested in capital growth we're told. Yeah right, rents in C London are huge and nobody in their right mind is going to leave large numbers of rentable properties empty for very long.


Meanwhile, back on safety. Last night IIRC I heard an interview with a tenant of another block who confirmed that they'd removed the fire door in their kitchen because it was a pain and got in the way. I can understand that, fire doors are often a pain (as are smoke alarms when they go off every time you make toast) until there's a fire and they save your life. I wonder how many residents in other tower blocks have, for one reason or another and possibly without fully realising the risks either removed or disabled other essential safety equipment. Worryingly, the young lady concerned told the reporter that they'd had a safety inspection and no safety issues had been raised with her regarding the missing door... :shrug:

If we're going to get serious about tackling fire risks due to stuff like cladding or resulting from poorly undertaken updating works, surely we're going to have to revisit the abuse of regulations by residents and others with access to these buildings. We all know it happens and people are quick to complain when those who're not really capable of looking after themselves safely are housed in blocks such as these but what about those who wilfully or otherwise break the rules and thereby expose everyone else to serious risk?

It seems a faulty fridge was what caused the initial fire but it could equally have been something totally irresponsible that a resident did. Such are the emotions right now that it's impossible to imagine anyone wanting to point out the role residents have in ensuring that all safety related matters are adhered to in such blocks but it is important and we mustn't lose sight of it in the rush to apportion blame in this case. Inspections clearly need to be made more frequent and more rigorous but no matter how often they're done, the residents have to be made fully aware of the risk factors and act responsibly in observing the rules.