Kensington & Chelsea (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Grenfell estate residents face ongoing disruption after 8 years of refurbishment, with Kensington & Chelsea Council reporting an £85m funding shortfall.
As reported by My London, before any more funds are distributed, independent supervision of the initiative to renovate all 826 properties on the estate is required, according to David O’Connell of the Lancaster West Walkways Residents’ Association (LWWRA), one of the two RAs working on Lancaster West Estate (LWE).
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):
“They have done very noisy intrusive works and turned our homes into building sites with very little impact assessment. I don’t think it is possible to do this level of refurbishment with people in situ.
Especially for already traumatised residents who went through the horrors of the fire.”
The refurbishment of Lancaster West Estate is expected to cost £244 million last summer, up from £118 million in 2018, when the work was first planned, according to a report released by Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC).
Currently, £85 million of the updated budget is not secured.
According to the report, the high caliber of renovations being done and the “hyperinflation” of building expenses are to blame for the growing expenses.
The intricate nature of the redevelopment and the site’s “historic neglect” were both cited by the council as contributing factors.
The report read:
“Alongside the inflationary aspects felt by all the sector there has been a need to build in risk cost and budgets to recognise historic neglect of the stock and the increased costs which are borne once projects arrive on site and the true extent of works is known.
There are a number of examples of where the condition of LWE homes and blocks has been worse than assumed through visual surveys alone, which has increased costs when on site.”
However, according to Mr. O’Connell, the quality of the works has been subpar. He asserts that due to the subpar construction, houses have undergone numerous renovations. According to him, some had mold and leaks.
He said that he has emails about how badly the works are being managed – ignoring quiet times, the inadequate respite which is the same as they offer in the rest of the borough.
As for the leaseholders, they are trapped as they cannot sell their homes, even if they wish to. They are being billed for the incompetent work and mistakes.
Kimi from Grenfell, Next of Kin feels the same way. According to her, after eight years of noisy construction projects and no permanent gas boiler, the locals have had enough.
She said:
“The temporary boiler will be blaring out full heat in the summer, and break down stone-cold dead in the winter. It is the residents that are paying for such inefficiency.”
She further stated that there have been numerous instances where finished work has been torn out and rebuilt a few weeks later.
She said that there has been no oversight of what is going on at the estate. The refurb was left entirely in RBKC’s hands with people who have no experience of such a complex retrofit.
The project management is entirely in house. It is, just like Grenfell Tower’s refurb was, another dreaded ‘R’ word only this time instead of the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation), it is the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team who has replaced the TMO but operating with the same culture towards the ‘rebel residents’.
She added that if the Central Government is to bail out Lancaster West and the Royal Borough with taxpayers’ money for their botched job so far, it must come with some serious strings attached, including a layer of management and oversight that is actually experienced in the real world with refurbishment.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the LWWRA, and the council hold quarterly refurbishment program board meetings to review the work, which is partially funded by the Central Government, according to the LDRS.
The most recent meeting was held on Wednesday, May 7.
Residents have been involved from the program’s inception and have contributed to the concepts and designs block by block, according to the council report.
Additionally, it stated that 92 percent of the inhabitants who answered a survey conducted by the council in 2023–2024 supported the renovation.
Of those surveyed, 79 percent expressed satisfaction with the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team, and 72 percent expressed satisfaction with the entire service.
According to the same assessment, most inhabitants, if not all of them, will be inconvenienced by the renovations due to the program’s duration and scope.
According to the council, its team is providing respite services to people and is working household by household to help them cope with the interruption. The LDRS is aware that a link to the Notting Dale Heat Network will take the place of the temporary boiler by 2026.
According to David, the project’s constructing expenses have increased far above the national average. According to ONS data, the price of construction output peaked in May 2023 at 33 percent and has since been declining.
He claimed that the renovation’s expenses, which have risen since 2018, do not reflect this.
He said:
“All the residents want is working services (such as the door entry system), new windows and a new boiler. There is money for that. They need to do the basics first – they haven’t managed any of that in eight years.
As a leaseholder, if they had demolished the estate as they first planned to, I could have sold my flat back to them at a rip-off price but at least I could move on with my life. As it is we are trapped here and will be for years to come.”
The council for Kensington and Chelsea stated that it is looking into “a range of avenues” to boost funding, such as collaborating with the Lancaster West Residents’ Association to make a direct appeal to the highest governmental authorities.
Additionally, it is looking for funding sources and reinvesting any proceeds back into the program.
But Kimi claimed that it was “cynical exploitation” to persuade locals to make an appeal to the government.
She said:
“What I found really disgusting is not only is there no plan but no independent oversight from a project management perspective. Getting residents to appeal directly to the government is cynical exploitation. It’s reprehensible.”
The LDRS is aware that internal renovations have now been finished in over 60% of residences. This includes new electrical cabling, smart thermostats, energy-efficient lighting, radiators, and kitchens and bathrooms with integrated appliances.
In addition to installing moisture monitoring equipment, the council is only aware of occurrences of mold and dampness in the unrenovated properties.
Cllr Sof McVeigh, Lead Member for Housing, said:
“We are committed to making Lancaster West a model 21st century housing estate.
Residents have been involved throughout the refurbishment and have been instrumental in the design of the programme. I know from meeting people on the estate and from regular survey results that lots of residents are supportive of the refurbishment, but work of this scale is inevitably disruptive.”
He added that they take residents’ concerns seriously and work with our contractors to minimise the disruption. They offer a respite scheme so people who are able and want to stay in their homes can do so in relative peace.
They have vacant flats for people to rest or work in and we offer days out from the estate. They also offer the option of moving out temporarily, with financial support for people who opt to stay with friends and family.
According to her, the council has already committed more than £100 million to the renovations and is actively seeking a finance solution with partners such as the Government and the LWWRA to fill the budget shortfall.
The goal of the project is to align apartments with the Decent Homes Standard, which is a social housing standard established by the government. This entails energy-efficient apartment buildings, remodeling every block, and using a 100% renewable heat network for hot water and heating.
The council estimates that, depending on the size of the house, the extent of the repair, and other factors, the investment per property will range from £100k to £300k. Additionally, leaseholders residing on the estate will receive a discount.
The council has so far raised £159 million, with its housing revenue account providing the lion’s share of that total ($108.3 million). The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government has provided a grant of about £24.9 million, while the neighbourhood team has raised £25.8 million from outside grants such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Additionally, it has committed to continuously reviewing the program’s scope and has already eliminated the construction of new residences, installed lifts in two blocks, and installed bolt-on balconies.
What are the main reasons for the delay in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment in Kensington?
Early on in the project, there were financial issues with the renovation. A “radical rethink” and value engineering were used to save costs because the previous contractor was unable to finish the work within the strict budget.
In order to save money, the council’s planning department permitted the use of less expensive, flammable ACM panels instead of more fire-safe zinc cladding.
The importance of fire safety was not given enough attention. The fire safety strategy was either unfinished or not thoroughly examined, and the contract manager believed that fire safety was outside his purview.
Despite warnings from several project participants, there was not a thorough examination of the risks associated with the flammable cladding, and key fire safety specialists did not visit the building or create a final fire safety plan.