Residents claim no fire alarms went off during blaze in Wembley block

David Talbot, an Octavia Housing resident who lived with his wife Jacqueline in a block connected to the one that caught fire, added that flammable cladding on the flats looked “like a matchbox waiting to go up”.

Barry Gardiner has stated his belief that Octavia had “chosen to engage in a protracted dispute” with Vistry, the developer of the block, rather than remove the cladding itself, despite being aware for years that “Grenfell-style” combustible cladding was on the building.

The Labour MP also accused the London landlord of “sitting on their hands” after he repeatedly raised concerns about the building’s safety defects months before a fire engulfed the block in flames.

Read the full article in Inside Housing here.

Elm Road Fire: ITV News Report.

On the 6th of February ITV did a report on the Elm Road fire, where 70 resident were evacuated.

The report speaks to Samantha, a resident on Elm Court Road and Barr y Gardiner MP. Samantha said she will “never feel safe again”.

Octavia “needs to step in” and cover the cost of all the possessions people lost, either in the fire or from subsequent water damage - Barry Gardiner

Wembley fire: Grenfell lessons 'not learned' as blaze residents 'told to stay put' in flats

Barry Gardiner claimed that the incident showed the “lessons of Grenfell” have not been learned.

He said he had written to the block’s owners, Octavia Housing, “repeatedly” and met with the CEO last November after constituents complained of fire safety flaws.

Mr Gardiner told the Standard: “I think what is so shocking is that we know that the cladding on this building is similar to the cladding at Grenfell. They’ve known for three years now that this was the case.

"And they have not got it sorted. I’ve been writing letters, emails repeatedly. It is just an atrocious example that shows the lessons from Grenfell have not been learned.”

Mr Gardiner held a meeting with residents, London Fire Brigade (LFB) and Octavia Housing staff at the Brent Civic Centre.

He said it had emerged that “fire alarms had failed to go off, police had incorrectly advised residents to ‘stay put’ in their flats and Octavia Housing had failed to repair gas boilers and appliances for over six months”.

Read the full article in the Evening Standard here.

The Feudal Leasehold System That Threatens a Repeat of the Grenfell Disaster

Last week a block of flats on Elm Road in my Brent North constituency caught fire. It took five hours, 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines to bring the fire under control. Thankfully, it was not another Grenfell – all residents were evacuated to safety – but the reason the fire spread so quickly was because, six years on from that tragedy, this building still had Grenfell-style combustible cladding on the outside.

Octavia Housing, who own the block of flats, attended a residents meeting which we held three days later. The acting Chief Executive was keen to assure everyone that Octavia’s “top concern, was residents’ safety”. However, the truth is that for the past three years Octavia have known about the combustible cladding but have instead engaged in a protracted dispute with the original developers, Vistry, rather than get on and remove the cladding themselves and argue about who ought to pay for it, later.

This is the very sort of legal wrangling that Michael Gove’s Building Safety Act was supposed to stop. It hasn’t. In reality, the Act has trapped thousands of residents living in Leasehold apartments with multiple fire safety defects. They are prisoners in their own homes.

Read Barry’s full op-ed in ByLine Times here.

Families demand cladding investigation after fleeing from Wembley flats fire

Families have demanded an investigation after fire tore through their north London block of flats.

Firefighters were still dampening down the block in Elm Road, Wembley, on Tuesday morning, 16 hours after hundreds of people were first evacuated.

Brent North MP Barry Gardiner said the block’s managers were “repeatedly warned” about fire safety risks after learning the building had “unsafe cladding” three years ago.

You can read the full article, published in the Evening Standard here.

Barry grills the freeholder lobby in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill Committee

On the 18th of January 2024, Barry questioned the Residential Freehold Association on their justification for Ground Rents.

Barry said on X, formerly known as twitter,

The Residential Freehold Association, who represent the big landlords, tried to persuade us that Ground Rents were justified & pension funds would suffer if they were abolished. Sorry. Not buying it!

The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill represents a "terrifying future" for our children

On the 22nd of February 2024 Barry made a speech into the House against the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, describing it as a “sad attempt to sow division and polarise our politics.”

Barry argued that this Bill is a demonstration that the government has “given up governing” and is “out of step with the British people’s priorities”.

“The government is failing to understand that to transition away from fossil fuels, you have to stop producing them”.

Barry is proud to condemn this Bill to the same fate as this Conservative government, “a vote of no confidence”.

MILLIONS LEFT IN LEASEHOLD MISERY

Over 5 million people now live in leasehold properties in the UK. Today, on Tuesday the 16th of January 2024, the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill begins its scrutiny stage in Parliament.

The Bill makes it easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold but does nothing for millions of leaseholders trapped in properties they cannot sell or afford. The new law fails to end the outdated feudal leasehold system which no longer exists in Scotland.

Barry Gardiner has campaigned to abolish leasehold for over 20 years and is on the Bill Committee that will examine the proposed legislation next week. To highlight his campaign, he has launched a new 40-minute documentary telling the stories of leaseholders trapped in homes they cannot sell or leave. It features residents across England and highlights the imbalance of power that keeps leaseholders’ prisoners in their own homes. The documntary will be released at the end of January.

Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, said “The government’s bill is 133 pages of tinkering with a fundamentally unjust system. Leasehold needs abolishing, not updating. It’s a relic of a feudal system. Every other country has abolished it because it leaves people as tenants in their own homes. It reinforces the imbalance of power between freeholder and leaseholder. I’ve seen it lead to bankruptcy, mental health issues and even suicides. We need an end to leasehold.”

Click here for more information: https://www.leaseholddoc.com/