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Indy100 Staff
Jun 22, 2017
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ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images
Prime Minister Theresa May's government has announced 68 social homes are to be be made available at Kensington Row for families left homeless following the Grenfell tower fire that killed at least 79 people.
Speaking in the House of Commons as MPs debated the Queen's Speech, the Prime Minister apologised for the "failure of the state" following the tragedy:
Let me be absolutely clear: the support for the families on the ground in the initial hours was not good enough.
People were left without belongings,without roofs over their heads, without even basic information about what had happened, what they should do and where they should go to seek help.
That was a failure of the state, local and national, to help people when they needed it most.
As Prime Minister, I apologise for that failure.
As Prime Minister I have taken responsibility for doing what we can to put things right.
That is why each family whose home was destroyed is receiving a down payment from the emergency fund so they can buy food, clothes and other essentials.
And all those who have lose their homes will be rehoused within three weeks.
A large complex of sleek new apartments is being completed, and some of those displaced by the fire will be allocated into the social housing flats adjacent, that the developments are required by law to build.
The Independent report that four unfinished blocks of 68 flats were purchased by the Corporation of London for families who lost their homes in the fire.
The report also asked locals what they thought of the plans, and some were extremely unsympathetic.
Anna, who is in her 60s and lives close by to the new development told The Independent that she would not be happy to see survivors rehoused in her area:
North Kensington is not this Kensington. They should be in a place where they are happy, but not here. I don’t want them here.
In the circumstances, they can't all expect to be rehoused in these parts of London. Someone has to pay that money, if they can afford to pay the rent there they should pay rent somewhere else.
While another resident named Maria told the Guardian:
It’s so unfair.Â
We paid a lot of money to live here, and we worked hard for it.
Now these people are going to come along, and they won’t even be paying the service charge.
Nick, who pays £2,500 a month rent for a one-bedroom flat, said:
Who are the real tenants of Grenfell Tower?
It seems as though a lot of flats there were sublet. Now the people whose names are on the tenancies will get rehoused here, and then they’ll rent the flats out on the private market. And the people who were actually living unofficially in the tower at the time of the fire won’t get rehoused.
I’m very sad that people have lost their homes, but there are a lot of people here who have bought flats and will now see the values drop. It will degrade things. And it opens up a can of worms in the housing market.
Most people on social media thought this reaction was completely heartless and said as much:
Some people did show some compassion however.
One mother-of-two, who did not want to be named, told The Independent:
They are saying: 'Have you heard about how they are letting these people who don't work live in luxury apartments?' They are saying that they don't want these people here in their apartments, that they rely too much on the government. They are saying: ‘I pay £5,000 a month to live here'
I just thought oh my god. Haven't these people suffered enough?
Watch what other residents told The Independent's video team below:
![](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/adQtJvSb-1920.jpg)
More: A Kensington resident donated her council tax rebate to victims at Grenfell tower
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