Grenfell Tower victims to be rehoused with sixty-eight flats in £2bn luxury apartment in Kensington

Grenfell Tower fire victims finally receiving rehousing support from Government

A week later from the horrific tragedy that struck the 24-storey tower and left at least 79 dead or presumed dead, the residents are finally receiving a roof over their heads.

An image of Grenfell Tower in ruins after the blazing inferno that wrecked over a hundred homes

Plans for sixty-eight flats in a south end desirable Kensington luxury complex apartment are being put in to place to replace victims of the Grenfell Tower. The private flats begin at £1.6 million and include affluent amenities of a swimming-pool, home cinema, gym and 24-hour concierge which will be off-limits to the Tower residents.

These flats have been bought by the Corporation of London and are within the comfortable end of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to permanently house the families. It is revealed they paid £10 million for the luxury flats where the two-bedroom flats were originally advertised for £2.4 million as a gesture of goodwill from the complex owner and developer St Edward. The complex is a joint venture between St Edward, Berkeley Group, the listed house builder and Prudential, the insurer. The flats fell into the affordable housing units with additional input from the Government without disclosing the sum.

St Edward informed the Standard, “We are identifying suitable properties in the local area to rehouse residents as quickly as possible, as well as offering support on local authorities to run checks on any high-rise buildings.” This rehousing scheme will provide homes to hundreds of people affected including the two hundred and fifty victims currently living in hotels.

The Department for Communities and Local Government stated the “expectation is that these new properties will be offered as one of the options to permanently rehouse residents from Grenfell Tower.”

However, this plan caused an outrage amongst the residents in the luxury apartment who complained this scheme would lower the value of the flats. One of the residents was worried the flats could possibly end up being sub-let. The integration of the unfortunate Grenfell victims in the affluent community did not digest well with the £2000 plus rent payers of the luxury complex.

On the other hand, a source at the development claimed “there are a lot of empty flats here-it would be the right thing to do.”

Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid has stated that one to three bedroom flats have been purchased in upmarket High Street Kensington by the Government. He said “Our priority is to get everyone who has lost their home permanently rehoused locally as soon as possible, so that they can begin to rebuild their lives.”

This move has been put into motion after Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader requisitioned for empty luxury homes to rehouse Grenfell families. Corbyn mentioned last week, “Kensington is a tale of two cities. The south part of Kensington is incredibly wealthy; it’s the wealthiest part of the whole country. The ward where this fire took place is, I think, the poorest ward in the whole country and properties must be found- requisitioned if necessary- to make sure those residents do get rehoused locally.”

Mayor Sadiq Khan had written a letter to Theresa May also urging the necessary actions required to rehouse the victims immediately after visiting the tragic scene. He stated in his letter that the public and victims feel “the Government and local council haven’t done enough to help them in the aftermath of this horrific incident, or to provide answers to their increasingly urgent questions.”

“The government should also confirm that all resident affected by the Grenfell Tower fire will be rehoused in the area, unless they choose not to.”

Both Labour politicians had stressed the importance of allocating the victims of the raging inferno to be rehoused immediately within the area and it seems theirs and the public’s’ frustrating requests are finally being fulfilled.

Multiple and extra staffs employed by the developer are working hard and around the clock to fast track the move in order to re-shelter the families so they could begin to rebuild their homes without moving far from their families, neighbors and friends. Rehousing is aimed to be completed by the end of July.

This article informs the public about the scheme to rehouse Grenfell Tower victims in a £2 billion luxury apartment complex.