Thousands of individuals trapped in harmful properties as Grenfell survivor makes plea
More than 275,000 people could be living in homes with dangerous cladding – as a survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire has warned Labour is failing those who died in the 2017 tragedy
A fire at the Grenfell Tower in west London killed 72 people(Image: PA)
Over 275,000 people could be living in homes with dangerous cladding, as a Grenfell survivor warned Labour is failing those who died in the 2017 tragedy.
Edward Daffarn, who escaped from his 16th floor flat during the blaze, said it is a scandal that people are still trapped in flats made with the same flammable materials as those in the West London tower block.
He urged ministers to accelerate remediation with thousands paying sky-high insurance for unsafe homes they are unable to sell.
Mr Daffarn told The Mirror: “We’ve been failed by the Conservatives and now it looks like we’re being failed by the Labour government. It hurts me to say that, but there seems to be no urgency. It’s too meaningless and too casual and it’s just so disrespectful to the 72 lives that were lost.”
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He added: “The fact that people are still living in buildings with the same cladding as Grenfell is an absolute scandal. It’s a stain on this government that people are still not living in safe buildings. They need to go faster.”
He criticised Housing Secretary Steve Reed for focusing on building 1.5million homes, adding: “He needs to sort out the existing problems in the housing sector.” Reports suggest the government’s Remediation Bill, to speed up remediation of unsafe cladding, faces a delay.
Government sources insist it is still hoped the legislation is introduced by May. But campaigners say that even if it is, they fear what state it will be in. Giles Grover, of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, told The Mirror: “It just feels like piecemeal, tinkering around the edges.”
The government is monitoring 229,000 homes in buildings of over 11 metres high with unsafe cladding. Of these, an estimated 97,000 have not started remediation, while 41,000 have work ongoing, according to official stats released last month.
It means 138,000 homes are in buildings that have not started or completed remediation. Given the average household is 2.35 residents, accor-ding to the ONS, this suggests at least 276,000 people are in a home in a building with unsafe cladding.
Other estimates suggest up to three million people could be affected. Labour’s manifesto vowed “decisive action to improve building safety, including through regulation”.
At the end of 2024, the Ministry of Housing promised to remediate all buildings 18 metres or higher by 2029. And Chancellor Rachel Reeves has since announced funding to speed up remediation, including £1billion to accelerate work done to social housing.
A Labour MP, who did not want to be named, told The Mirror: “Eight and a half years after Grenfell, to not even have a plan in place for lots of dangerous buildings, it’s just extraordinary.”
An Housing Ministry spokesperson said: “We are working tirelessly to remediate unsafe buildings as we committed to in our acceleration plan, with over £1billion already provided to urgently fix social housing.”
