Javid: It wouldn’t have happened in a luxury block

SAJID Javid last night claimed the Grenfell fire would never have happened in a luxury block of flats and demanded a fundamental rethink of social housing in the wake of the tragedy.

The Communities Secretary accused ‘The Establishment’ of neglecting social housing, adding: ‘ The tragic events of 14 June showed exactly where that attitude can lead.’

In a speech at the National Housing Federation conference in Birmingham, Mr Javid spoke of his own upbringing as he argued ‘people are judged on where they live’.

He said: ‘I grew up on Stapleton Road in Bristol – also known as “Britain’s most dangerous street” or a “moral cesspit”.

‘I remember my school careers adviser telling me that there was no point in aiming high because kids from my neck of the woods didn’t take A-levels or go to university.

‘Society had low expectations of us, and we were expected to live down to them.

‘That’s just my experience, it’s just one person’s story, but if the Grenfell tragedy showed us anything, it was the extent to which these attitudes have spread and become deeply ingrained in the way this country thinks and it acts.’

Mr Javid announced the Government will bring forward a green paper on social housing, which he promised would be a ‘top-to-bottom’ review of the issues facing the sector ’.

He added: ‘While I don’t want to prejudge the findings of the public or police inquiries, it’s clear that in the months and years before the fire the residents of Grenfell Tower were not listened to – that their concerns were ignored or dismissed, that too many people in positions of power saw tenants less as people with families and more as problems that needed to be managed.

‘The question I keep coming back to is very simple: In one of the richest, most privileged corners of the UK, the world, even, would a fire like this have happened in a privately owned block of luxury flats?

‘If you believe that the answer is no, even if you think it was simply less likely, then it’s clear that we need a fundamental rethink of social housing in this country.

‘The legacy of Grenfell, the lessons that we learn, the changes that we make, none of that should be confined to fire safety.

‘The legacy of Grenfell can and must be a whole new approach to the way this country thinks about social housing.’

The Communities Secretary later tweeted: ‘Our social housing green paper will be the most substantial review of its kind for a generation.’