‘I and my colleagues in the social housing sector very much keep in mind today the words of Inquiry Chair Sir Martin Moor-Bick – that what happened at the Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 was first and foremost a human tragedy.
“The primary lesson we must all take from this dreadful day is that the relationship between resident and landlord is absolutely crucial to all we do, and this must never be forgotten or disregarded again.”

The 1700-page report singles out for criticism the ‘distrust, antagonism and atmosphere of bitter confrontation’ that existed between Grenfell residents and their tenant management organisation in the years before and immediately before the fire, and particularly when residents tried to raise their worries about the way the tower was being refurbished.

“Effective tenant-landlord communication is built into the governance framework that NFA members are obliged to follow, but the ALMO movement is also one that has always understood that there is never any room for complacency,”Eamon McGoldrick added.
“Our members have revisited all their tenant engagement structures in the years since the Grenfell fire to make sure they are fit for purpose, and will continue to keep them under sharp focus.”

Immediately after the fire, every NFA member and their parent councils reviewed their buildings for presence of the ACM cladding condemned in today’s findings. All such cladding was quickly removed – in some cases, even before government funding for remediation works came online.

In the seven years since the disaster, the NFA has played a key role in contributing to government consultation and social housing, building safety and fire safety regulation reform, and members have acted on every recommendation and requirement of the new regulation regime.

NFA policy staff, governing board and member CEOs have also played a full part in the social housing sector’s Knowing Our Homes initiative which is gathering the data to ensure social landlords understand the vulnerabilities that may place residents at risk and whether the homes they live in are fit for purpose.

https://www.housing.org.uk/our-work/quality/knowing-our-homes/

“We have also enthusiastically supported the Regulator of Social Housing’s revised Consumer Standards and the re-introduction of performance monitoring of social landlords, through the Tenant Satisfaction Measures,” said Eamon.
“This is a system that rightly puts tenants at the heart of assessing how we deliver the housing services they need, and that they have a right to expect.
“Right back at the beginning of the ALMO model, our members were accustomed to compulsory inspection and assessment. It kept us up to the mark.
“We aim to use the evidence residents offer us under the new system to continually improve. This is how we and our members can best honour the painstaking work of the Grenfell Inquiry team – to continually strive to deliver the healthy, collaborative relationship with our residents that the Inquiry recommendations demand.
“We now look forward to working with government, stakeholders and our partners over the coming months as the full recommendations of the Inquiry are given the detailed consideration they deserve.”