Grenfell fire: Survivors now govt’s business, everybody’s concern

Though the Grenfell Tower fire was a great tragedy, it is also a great learning field for Nigeria as a country and home builders and facilities managers in particular. Apart from the lesson on the need for safety reviews in buildings, the government of Nigeria also has a lot to learn from this incident about responding to emergencies and, above all, post emergency situation management.

It is instructive to point out that survivors of the Grenfell fire in London, unlike victims of similar incidents in Nigeria who are left to wallow in pain, anguish, want and, in extreme cases, death, are today government’s business and everybody’s concern.

Barely two weeks after that June 14 tragedy, it is amazing how virtually all hands are on deck to help the survivors pick the pieces and carry on with life and living. Dozens of families left homeless by this incident are now to settle into a new luxury mixed-used London development.

Beckie Strum reports that 68 units in this development previously earmarked as ‘affordable housing’ will be used to indefinitely house a portion of the survivors at Kensington Row, which is a collection of high-end apartments and penthouses where prices start at £1.575 million (US$1.99 million) and owners have access to a 24-hour concierge, a private cinema and pool, according to the development’s website.

The city of London had already designated a portion of the building as affordable housing before the fire struck. Kensington Row is part of a regeneration scheme on the site of an old Homebase store and a 1960s telephone exchange, of which there will be 120 affordable rental units administered by the local government, as well as another 92 so-called “extra-care” units for the elderly and disabled, and 301 private luxury homes.

The co-developers, Berkeley Group and Prudential, are now “working around the clock” to complete the affordable housing units, said Andrew Porter, a spokesman for Berkeley Group. The developers expect to have families moving in by July and August.

The fire, which turned a public housing block into a scorched shell, killed 79 people. The 68 apartments at Kensington Row will help a significant portion, but far from all of the 180 families affected by the tragedy. It’s not clear what the municipality will charge the tenants in monthly rent. A spokesman for the city did not immediately return a request for comment.

Tony Pidgley, chairman of Berkeley Group, said in a statement that this way survivors will be someplace safe and only about 1.5 miles away from their former neighborhood.
“Somewhere safe and supportive, close to their friends and the places they know, so they can start to rebuild their lives,” Pidgley said. “We will work night and day to get these homes ready.”
From the outside, the affordable housing stock at Kensington Row is indistinguishable from the luxury units and are built to the same quality as the rest of the building. Differences typically include less luxurious fixtures and finishes, and residents do not have access to the pool and other luxury amenities that their market-rate neighbors pay for through building and service fees.