Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
Council launches lawsuit against Grenfell fire fridge maker
28/04/2025 Kensington and Chelsea has accused the manufacturer of the fridge blamed for starting the Grenfell Tower fire of failing to carry out adequate safety tests. |
Council to sell unsafe properties purchased after Grenfell fire
22/04/2025 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is aiming to sell off 14 properties that it purchased to house survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire. |
Kensington & Chelsea launches legal action against Grenfell companies
10/04/2025 Kensington & Chelsea LBC has launched legal action worth around £360m against companies involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower. |
Government ‘complacent’ over cladding capacity issue
20/03/2025 The Government ‘appears complacent’ about the fact there is insufficient capacity across local government to address the dangerous cladding crisis, MPs warn. |
Rayner: Grenfell inquiry must be ‘catalyst’ for systemic change
26/02/2025 The Government is committed to ‘stronger regulation’ to improve building safety, says Rayner while setting out the response to the Grenfell inquiry. |
Grenfell council stands by contractor ban despite legal threat
24/02/2025 Kensington and Chelsea LBC is standing by its ban of a contractor involved in Grenfell Tower's refurbishment despite the firm mounting a legal challenge. |
Grenfell Tower to be dismantled ‘sensitively’
10/02/2025 Angela Rayner has written to bereaved families who lost loved ones in the Grenfell Tower fire explaining that the building will be ‘sensitively’ taken down. |
LGA: Funding needed to tackle unsafe cladding
02/12/2024 Local authorities need ‘multi-year funding arrangements’ if they are to remove dangerous cladding by the end of 2029, council chiefs have said. |
NAO: 60% of buildings with flammable cladding still not identified
04/11/2024 Up to 60% of buildings with dangerous cladding have not yet been identified seven years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, auditors warn. |
'Decades of neglect' impact on fire safety enforcement
03/10/2024 Talks have been held with the Government over councils' need for more support to enforce fire safety rules after the Grenfell fire inquiry concluded. |
Grenfell response was 'woefully lacking'
11/09/2024 Kensington & Chelsea LBC's response to the Grenfell disaster was ‘woefully lacking', the chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA) at the time, Lord Porter, has said. |
Catastrophic system failure
05/09/2024 Mo Baines, chief executive of APSE, calls for an end to the hollowing out of public service capacity in light of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. |
Ombudsman: Grenfell should lead to end of social housing ‘stigma’
05/09/2024 The inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy should lead to a ‘wider societal change’ to end the stigmatisation of those living in social housing, Ombudsman says. |
Grenfell inquiry highlights Government and council failings
04/09/2024 Failings on the part of the Government and Kensington & Chelsea LBC enabled the Grenfell Tower disaster to unfold, the inquiry into the tragedy has found. |
Evacuation plans for vulnerable Londoners ‘postcode lottery’
02/09/2024 There has been an inconsistent rollout of personalised emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for vulnerable Londoners since the Grenfell Fire, research reveals. |
Ministers: Increase the pace of fixing unsafe buildings
30/08/2024 Ministers have told regulators at a round table meeting to ‘increase the pace of remediating unsafe buildings' after a major fire in Dagenham. |
2,000 social housing blocks affected by ‘life-critical’ problems
02/04/2024 Almost 2,000 social housing blocks in England have ‘life-critical’ problems with their external cladding, according to official data. |
Rowley: Councils must do more to improve high-rise safety
21/02/2024 Housing minister Lee Rowley has called on councils to do more to tackle building owners who fail to fix high-rise buildings in the wake of Grenfell tragedy. |
Grenfell firefighters win £20m settlement
02/02/2024 More than 100 firefighters injured in the Grenfell tragedy have received a £20m settlement in the High Court. |
Government ‘criminally complacent’ over cladding risk
01/02/2024 Firefighters have accused the Government of being ‘criminally complacent’ after a cladding fire in Wembley. |
Newham wins landmark cladding removal case
19/10/2023 Newham LBC has become the first council in Britain to successfully prosecute a building owner for failing to remove flammable cladding. |
Kensington & Chelsea launches standards drawn up with residents
28/09/2023 Kensington and Chelsea LBC has become the first council to publish service standards co-designed with residents as part of its continuing response to the Grenfell tragedy. |
‘Real fears’ that post-Grenfell safety legislation won’t be delivered
31/07/2023 Auditor General for Wales has raised concerns over the devolved government’s implementation of building safety legislation that was created after Grenfell. |
Council orders removal of insulation made by Grenfell firm
14/07/2023 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has ordered the removal of insulation made by a firm that was implicated in the Grenfell tragedy. |
Final Grenfell inquiry report expected next year
04/05/2023 The final report from the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire is unlikely to be published until next year, according to the inquiry team. |
Council agrees Grenfell compensation
02/05/2023 Kensington & Chelsea LBC is among the defendants that have agreed a £150m civil compensation settlement for victims of the Grenfell tragedy. |
Three cladding firms warned of 'consequences’ for safety failures
21/04/2023 Michael Gove has warned the shareholders of three cladding firms of ‘severe consequences’ if they fail to put forward plans to help fix unsafe buildings. |
More than 900 people agree Grenfell fire settlement
12/04/2023 More than 900 people who were affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy have agreed on a settlement of their civil claims arising from the fire. |
Gove delivers ultimatum to 11 housebuilders
15/03/2023 Housing secretary Michael Gove has named 11 firms who have failed to sign a contract to repair homes with safety risks exposed by the Grenfell Tower fire. |
Developers ordered to sign building repairs contract
30/01/2023 Housing developers have been ordered to sign legally binding contracts that they will pay to repair unsafe buildings. |
Council ‘liable’ for deaths of five Grenfell residents
01/08/2022 The local authority that owned Grenfell Tower has been found liable for the deaths of five residents who died in the 2017 fire. |
Council hits back at 'dysfunctional' tribunal ruling
12/07/2022 A dispute between Kensington & Chelsea LBC and two senior former employees that ended in an employment tribunal has continued to rumble. |
London councils mark Grenfell fire anniversary with call for fire safety support
14/06/2022 Too many buildings across London are still waiting for unsafe cladding to be removed or for other fire safety works to be carried out, council leaders say. |
Home Office rejects Grenfell inquiry safety recommendation
19/05/2022 Government has rejected a recommendation that would require owners of high-rise buildings to prepare emergency evacuation plans for disabled residents. |
Grenfell council admits leadership was 'unable to cope'
12/04/2022 Kensington & Chelsea LBC has admitted to the Grenfell Tower inquiry its ‘leadership was unable to cope’ in the days after the tragedy. |
Measures to protect leaseholders from building safety costs ‘piecemeal’, MPs say
11/03/2022 Too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of Government’s measures to protect leaseholders from costs of building safety remediation, committee says. |
Developers given deadline to fix cladding crisis
10/01/2022 Developers have been warned they could face legal action or future restrictions on funding and procurement if they fail to remove unsafe cladding. |
Bill aimed at improving safety standards for high-rise buildings published
05/07/2021 A new Bill aimed at strengthening safety standards for the construction of high-rise buildings will be published today four years after the Grenfell Tower fire. |
Boroughs call for ‘fit for purpose’ fire safety regime
15/06/2021 London boroughs marked the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire yesterday by calling on the Government to put in place a fire safety regime that is ‘fit for purpose’. |
Queen’s Speech: New law to ‘modernise’ planning system
11/05/2021 The Government has pledged to push ahead with reforms to the planning system in order to meet house-building targets. |
Government consults on new £2bn developer tax
30/04/2021 The Government has launched a consultation into a new residential developer tax to help towards the cost of removing unsafe cladding. |
Grenfell director dismissed while on sick leave, tribunal hears
20/04/2021 A council director who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after working on the Grenfell Tower response was dismissed while on sick leave, an employment tribunal has heard. |
Grenfell council apologises over monitoring failings
31/03/2021 Kensington & Chelsea LBC has apologised for failings in its monitoring of the organisation that managed Grenfell Tower. |
Jenrick confirms £3.5bn plan to replace unsafe cladding
11/02/2021 Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that the Government will fully fund the cost of replacing unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in residential buildings six storeys and over in England. |
All social high-rise buildings take action on dangerous cladding
22/01/2021 All social housing towers have had unsafe cladding removed - or have work underway - government figures have revealed. |
New regulator established to ensure building materials are ‘fit for purpose’
20/01/2021 The Government has announced the establishment of a national regulator which aims to ensure materials used to build homes will be made safer. |
Has Grenfell ground to a halt?
18/12/2020 Adam Jurka looks at why buildings with dangerous cladding should follow NFCC guidance and move over to safer and more permanent interim measures to protect residents from fire. |
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Police make first Grenfell arrest
26/10/2020 Detectives investigating the fire have arrested a man on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. |
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Committee condemns ‘pie-in-the-sky’ cladding promises
16/09/2020 Thousands of people are at risk because of ‘serious shortcomings’ in the Government’s long-term response to the Grenfell Tower fire. |
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Making the case for drones in a post-Grenfell landscape
03/08/2020 Rebecca Jones explains how councils can use drones to survey inaccessible properties, such as high-rise towers. |
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Drive to replace dangerous cladding ‘lagging behind’, warn auditors
19/06/2020 Auditors investigating the programme for replacing dangerous cladding on high-rise buildings have found that progress has ‘lagged behind’ expectations. |
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More than 50,000 living with dangerous cladding
15/06/2020 There are 56,000 people living in buildings with unsafe Grenfell-style cladding, new analysis has revealed. |
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Building safety fund not 'enough' says task force
21/05/2020 The government fund to replace dangerous cladding is not enough to make all buildings safe, the Greater Manchester High Rise Task Force has warned. |
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More councils sign pledge to continue with building safety work
07/05/2020 The leaders of 25 councils have signed a pledge to continue with vital building safety improvements during the pandemic. |
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Cladding remediation work to pick up pace
23/04/2020 Vital building safety work to replace unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings that had ‘significantly slowed down’ as a result of the coronavirus pandemic will resume, it has been announced. |
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Grenfell taskforce to ‘stand down’
27/03/2020 The Government has announced that the taskforce set up to help the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea respond to the Grenfell tragedy is to stand down at the end of the month. |
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Budget 2020: £1bn Building Safety Fund to remove unsafe cladding
11/03/2020 A new £1bn fund to remove unsafe cladding from high-rise buildings has been unveiled today by the chancellor. |
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High-rise residents warn worries over fire safety causing mental distress
24/02/2020 A survey of residents living in high-rise buildings in Manchester has found fire safety risks are damaging their mental health and wellbeing. |
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Councils slam Grenfell's witnesses' immunity request
07/02/2020 Councils would be unlikely to use products from any company that fails to cooperate fully with the Grenfell Tower inquiry, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
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Sector presses for further action on cladding
21/01/2020 Building safety reforms billed as the ‘biggest change for a generation’ do not go far enough to clamp down on potentially dangerous cladding, councils argued this week. |
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Manchester becomes 'early adopter' of Hackitt Review
20/01/2020 Manchester City Council has joined three other councils to become an ‘early adopter’ of the recommendations made in the Hackitt Review. |
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Welsh government bans combustible cladding
23/12/2019 Welsh government has banned the use of combustible cladding on high rise buildings following the Hackitt review into fire safety after the Grenfell tragedy. |
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Grenfell inquiry: Better communication between councils and fire services needed
30/10/2019 ‘Far better direct communication’ between local authorities and fire and rescue services is needed, an official inquiry has urged. |
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Queen's Speech 19: Whitehall to ‘implement’ new building safety standards
14/10/2019 The Government plans to ‘implement new building safety standards’ in order to prevent a repeat of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, according to the Queen’s speech. |
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The safety of social housing
26/09/2019 Neil Merrick explores how councils are improving the safety of social housing two years after the Grenfell Tower tragedy. |
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Council announces £57m funding for estate next to Grenfell
25/07/2019 Kensington and Chelsea Council are to invest £57m transforming an estate next to Grenfell Tower. |
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Whitehall ‘too slow’ in reforming fire safety rules after Grenfell
18/07/2019 The Government has been ‘far too slow’ in reforming the building and fire safety regime in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy, MPs have said. |
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Grenfell Tower: Hundreds of high-rise buildings still have 'unsafe' cladding
14/06/2019 There are still 'huge challenges ahead' two years after the Grenfell Tower fire, according to the leader of the council where the disaster took place. |
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Social housing tenants ‘failed’ by poor regulation
10/06/2019 Social housing tenants are being forced to report the same problem with their home multiple times, a housing charity has warned today. |
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Firefighters blast Government for ‘complacency’ after the Grenfell fire
21/05/2019 The Government has done nothing to ‘adequately prepare’ fire and rescue services for another Grenfell-type fire, a firefighter union has warned. |
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Councils urge Government to fund sprinkler installations
27/03/2019 Local authorities have called on the Government to fund the installation of sprinklers in high-rise buildings two years after the Grenfell tragedy. |
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Grenfell residents had human rights breached, watchdog warns
13/03/2019 The residents of Grenfell Tower had their human rights breached by the council and public services before the fire started, a watchdog has warned. |
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Councils calls for tougher regulations around sprinklers in high-rise buildings
12/03/2019 Local government leaders are calling for tougher rules governing the installation of sprinklers in high-rise buildings following last year's Grenfell tragedy. |
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Manchester residents will not have to pay to remove Grenfell-style cladding
04/03/2019 Apartment owners in Manchester will not be required to pay for replacing the dangerous cladding on their buildings, it has been confirmed. |
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Grenfell cladding over 50 times more flammable than safer alternative
18/01/2019 The cladding used on Grenfell Tower was 55 times more flammable than the least combustible materials available, according to a new study. |
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Councils given power to remove unsafe cladding from private buildings
30/11/2018 Local authorities have been given the power to strip unsafe cladding from private residential buildings over 18 metres tall. |
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The long journey towards rebuilding trust at Kensington and Chelsea RLBC
13/11/2018 The Grenfell tragedy and its aftermath were devastating, says Elizabeth Campbell - and she pledges to listen more closely to local people to ensure they 'have a real stake in what is happening on their own doorsteps and in their own lives'. |
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Twelve councils given funding to remove unsafe cladding
18/10/2018 The Government has released the first £248m of a fund to pay for the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding from high-rise tower blocks. |
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Council worker charged with Grenfell Tower fraud
30/08/2018 A council worker has been accused of stealing money intended for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. |
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Government steps in following Grenfell Tower outcry
01/08/2018 The Government will take on responsibility for the Grenfell Tower site, Marsham Street has announced. |
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MPs call for sprinklers to be fitted to all high-rise residential buildings
18/07/2018 The Government should provide funding to enable councils to fit sprinklers in all high-rise residential buildings to avoid another tragedy like the Grenfell Tower fire, MPs have argued today. |
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Removal of combustible cladding has left some buildings at ‘serious fire risk’
28/06/2018 The removal of combustible cladding from tower blocks could be making buildings more dangerous, experts have warned MPs. |
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Councils double number of fire safety tenders in wake of Grenfell
19/06/2018 The number of councils tendering for fire safety work has shot up in the year since the Grenfell disaster, according to the latest figures. |
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What the fire taught us
14/06/2018 After Grenfell, changes to governance and consultation were the recommendations of a study for Kensington & Chelsea RLBC by the Centre for Public Scrutiny, and the Democratic Society. Jacqui McKinlay explains. |
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Council efforts to rehouse Grenfell survivors ‘fallen way short’, report says
12/06/2018 Kensington and Chelsea council’s performance in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy has ‘fallen way short’, according to a new report into the rehousing of those who survived the fire. |
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Council response to Grenfell tragedy was 'weak' - report
30/05/2018 Damage caused by Kensington and Chelsea RLBC's ‘weak’ response in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire will be ‘difficult to repair,’ a report has suggested. |
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Council promise to assist Grenfell inquiry ‘expose the lesson’ of the fire
21/05/2018 The leader of Kensington and Chelsea council today said her authority will assist the Grenfell inquiry ‘to expose the lessons’ from the tragedy so all councils may apply them. |
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Councils disappointed Hackitt review fails to ban combustible cladding
17/05/2018 Local councils will have extra responsibilities for monitoring the safety of higher-risk residential buildings (HRRBs), under sweeping, wholesale reforms to the regulatory landscape proposed by the final Hackitt report, published today. |
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Government commits £400m to remove dangerous cladding
17/05/2018 The replacement and removal of unsafe cladding by councils will be fully funded by the Government, at an estimated cost of £400m. |
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Fire safety tests still ‘utterly’ inadequate post-Grenfell, study reveals
25/04/2018 New research carried out in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire has exposed the ‘utter inadequacy’ of the tests currently used to check the fire safety of building materials. |
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Whitehall to consult on banning fire performance ‘desktop studies’
12/04/2018 The Government yesterday launched a consultation into the use of ‘desktop studies’ to assess the fire performance of external cladding systems. |
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Time for action
02/03/2018 Adrian Pargeter explores the long-term steps local authorities should take to ensure tenants are no longer living in unsafe buildings. |
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Principles agreed for deciding future of Grenfell Tower site
01/03/2018 A set of principles to guide the forthcoming consultations on the future of the Grenfell Tower site have been agreed between the council, the community and the Government. |
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Councils to share £1m to identify unsafe cladding on private bildings
01/03/2018 Local authorities are to share £1m to help then identify private high-rise buildings that may be clad in unsafe building materials. |
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Unsafe cladding removed from only 4% of affected social housing
28/02/2018 Only seven social housing buildings have fully replaced their unsafe cladding in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy, shocking new findings reveal. |
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Councils deplore Government guidance after Grenfell
21/02/2018 The Government’s guidance on fire safety after the Grenfell Tower fire has been ‘mediocre,’ ‘contradictory,’ ‘disjointed’ or non-existent, councils have said in response to a Labour survey. |
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Construction professionals support ban on combustible materials on high-rise buildings
21/02/2018 Almost three-quarters (74%) of construction industry professionals believe that using combustible materials on mid-, high-rise and sensitive buildings should be banned, according to a new survey. |
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KPMG quits Grenfell inquiry amid accusations of a conflict of interest
08/01/2018 Accountancy firm KPMG has announced it is quitting its advisory role on the Grenfell inquiry after campaigners accuse it of a conflict of interest. |
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Council warns of ‘unprecedented’ fire safety funding gap
03/01/2018 Croydon Council has called on the Government to provide financial support to authorities struggling to pay for necessary tower block fire safety measures. |
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Kensington & Chelsea announces ‘far-reaching’ review of Grenfell management
02/01/2018 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council has announced a ‘thorough and far-reaching’ review into the arms-length organisation that managed Grenfell Tower. |
