by Felicity Collier

SURVIVORS of the Grenfell Tower disaster are not being offered suitable accommodation by Kensington & Chelsea Council, they said yesterday, as Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced yet another taskforce would be sent in to cover the calamitous Tory local authority’s failings.

Three weeks after the blaze, residents from the west London tower and nearby Grenfell Walk are still living in hotels and only 14 households have accepted offers of permanent or temporary living arrangements, the new taskforce’s predecessor the Grenfell Response Team (GRT) admitted.

Campaigners and residents said properties are either out of the borough, too costly or only on a one-year contract. Astonishingly, bearing in mind the ordeal they have suffered, some had been offered places in high-rise buildings.

A campaigner working with the families said one survivor had been offered accommodation which, after a year of paying no rent, would be triple what they were paying before.

Jamal Williams, a resident from a nearby block, said: “The concern is what it will be afterwards. I think people are looking for a lifetime tenancy arrangement.”

GRT insisted residents will not have to pay rent for one year and thereafter it would be of a “similar scale to a council house social rent,” while survivors should not feel under pressure to take up first offers.

Mr Javid’s decision to bring in a recovery taskforce to offer long-term support, including housing, followed heavy criticism of the council and the resignation of its two most senior members.

The move was branded “a clear admission of failure” by shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne, who said: “This is a half-measure that does not go far enough to address the woefully inadequate performance of Kensington & Chelsea Council throughout this crisis.

“It is clear that the community has lost trust in their council. Sajid Javid needs to finally show some leadership by bringing in external commissioners — in consultation with residents themselves.”

Shadow housing secretary John Healey said: “Support for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire is still not good enough.

“Ministers must now show that they mean what they say, do what they promise and act urgently to give those affected by this tragic fire the support they need.”