Written evidence submitted by Anonymous [CPR 003]

Imagine you come from a hard-working, law abiding, working-class family.  From the time you are young your parents raise you to treat people with respect to help others when they need it and to be fair and do the right thing whenever possible.  You have worked hard through 2 levels of university education to start in a low paying job but aim to work your way up.  Fast forward almost 10 years later the amount of time, after paying every penny of tax due and living on a tight budget, you are finally able to put a deposit down on a modest place of your own.  I purchased my flat in July 2017, 1 month after the Grenfell tower disaster!  Following this disaster, the government reformed fire safety in high-rise buildings something which had been neglected for years prior through various governments and city councils.  Capitalist greed of developers, negligence of approving bodies, a loophole in leaseholder related law, and a reform article which was potentially designed with good intentions but absolutely, incomprehensibly, ignorant to the economic impact of remediation for individuals, has created an obscene standoff with money valued higher than human life.   The situation in my building and costs relate 94% to non-cladding issues, the total costs accounting for almost £40,000 per leaseholder.  The warranty on my building was less than one year out of date when fire issues were uncovered.  Our unethical, acquisitive and callous developers have been enabled by mistakes made by government and public entities meant to mediate and protect people.  I am now in a situation where I have been forced to work from home in an unsafe building for months, I have already lost one job and am likely to lose my other in coming weeks.  Personal savings are being spent to try to get through an already impossible time for most people, whilst for those in my building and thousands of people across this country we have unfair debts hanging over our head too like the blade of a guillotine.  The government needs to provide more comprehensive support for leaseholders extending to all fire safety issues rather than what has appeared to in the past been the bare minimum to help mask public opinion for those who don’t really understand the situation.  People are becoming very desperate, and this is being significantly exacerbated in these current times.  Think about what you have been taught growing up and try to comprehend how this situation is right or fair, what would you do? 

May 2020