Statement on Grenfell Tower tragedy: One week on

A week on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy it’s still hard to comprehend the scale of the disaster and the loss of life: our thoughts are with the victims and the bereaved families.

We await further details of the UK Government’s public inquiry and all the facts surrounding this disaster.  Central to the inquiry should be the involvement of those tenants caught up in this tragedy and the families of people who lost their lives.  It’s imperative that their voices are heard and respected.  The inquiry should report back quickly to establish exactly what happened and what can be done to keep tenants safe in the future and to prevent such a tragedy happening again.

In the meantime, we’ve seen social landlords across Wales providing important assurances and advice to tenants whilst working with local fire authorities to review current fire safety measures.

Involving Tenants strengthens the relationship that a landlord has with its communities and helps improve landlord services. Tenant engagement should also focus on how homes are maintained to the highest possible safety standards.

Everyone has the right to a safe and permanent home, yet for too many people this is simply not the case. At TPAS Cymru we will continue to push for decent, safe social housing across Wales and work with tenants and landlords to encourage effective communication and tenant engagement.