More than 200 children who lost homes in Grenfell Tower will spend Christmas in hotels

Scores of others will spend their holiday in other other temporary accommodation

Molly Fleming
Sunday 10 December 2017 18:22 GMT
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Many Grenfell victims have been staying in bed and breakfast hotels for the entire six-month period since the fire
Many Grenfell victims have been staying in bed and breakfast hotels for the entire six-month period since the fire

More than 850 people who were affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, 303 of whom are children, will be spending their Christmases in temporary accommodation, according to the MP for Kensington.

Figures obtained by Emma Dent Coad’s office show that 226 children who lost their homes in the disaster will be stuck in bed and breakfast hotels during the festive period while the rest are staying in temporary flats.

It is illegal for children to live in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks, yet many Grenfell victims have been staying in bed and breakfast hotels for the entire six-month period since the fire.

“It is indefensible that after six months the Council has still not rehoused these desperate and traumatised families. It is heartless, immoral and illegal,” Ms Dent Coad said.

There are 857 individuals living in short-term accommodation and out of 376 homeless households, 201 have been housed outside the Kensington and Chelsea borough.

The figures, obtained from the beginning of November, included families who were not living in Grenfell Tower but were made homeless when nearby buildings were deemed unsafe or closed off by authorities.

“There are many local charities and organisations which will support families and individuals throughout the Christmas period... I wholeheartedly welcome this. But, after six months, why must our Grenfell homeless rely on charity?” Ms Dent Coad said.

“Every day that goes by under the current failing regime is another day of uncertainty for those they have so clearly failed to serve,” she added.

The figures come as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it will launch its own inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.

Britain’s equality watchdog told The Observer it would look at whether the state failed in its duty to protect life.

“We think the human rights dimension to Grenfell Tower is absolutely fundamental and is currently overlooked. Grenfell for most people in this country, particularly in the way the Government has reacted, is a pretty defining moment in terms of how inequality is perceived,” said the commission’s chair David Isaac.

Meanwhile, the leader of the council that owns the tower told The Sunday Times she would not attend a memorial service for the victims out of respect for the wishes of the families.

Elizabeth Campbell, who took over at Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the wake of the blaze, said the memorial service on Thursday marking six months since the disaster was not “about me”.

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