We are just as important as everyone else, say Tower homeowners

VICTIMS of the Grenfell Tower fire who bought their flats under the Right to Buy scheme have told how they now feel abandoned by the authorities.

They say they fear for their future, as Kensington and Chelsea council is un- likely to see the rehousing of leaseholders as their responsibility.

“In the long term, we suffer even more because it is our own flat,” said one homeowner, who did not wish to be named. “I bought the flat as an investment for my family. But what is our position in the future?”

The father, who bought his property over a decade ago under Right to Buy, told how he has still been paying his mortgage since the inferno.

He said he wants to find a new home in the same part of London. “We started our life here, our children grew up here,” he told The Sunday Telegraph. “Most [of the leaseholders] did Right to Buy, or maybe one or two bought from someone else. We don’t want to be treated as less important [than the council tenants], they should give us the same importance.

“It is difficult to know what the position is. It creates a lot of anxiety. The council have a lot to answer for. There are no answers – I need answers from the Government and from the council.”

Of the 129 properties in Grenfell Tower, 14 are owned by leaseholders, as well as three in Grenfell Walk, all of whom have lost their homes. Flats in Grenfell Tower have recently been sold for between £185,000 and £270,000, according to RightMove.

Sebastian O’Kelly, a trustee of Leaseholder Knowledge Partnership, said: “Even if they do manage to secure a payout from their home insurer, it is unlikely to cover the cost of a new flat in the same area.”