Grenfell Tower to be demolished due to safety concerns | Grenfell Tower fire

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Ministers are expected this month to announce the demolition of Grenfell Tower over safety concerns, more than four years after a fire that killed 72 people.

Robert Jenrick, the housing minister, has been told the building is a danger to the local community including Kensington Aldridge Academy in west London, a secondary school located near the charred remains.

Senior Whitehall sources told the Sunday Times that government-appointed structural engineering experts had advised “unequivocally and unanimously” that the tower should be “carefully removed”.

Government officials have asked bereaved families to anticipate a decision on the tower’s future this month. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which has taken ownership of the tower since 2018, has assured families that the tower will not be demolished before the fifth anniversary of the fire in June 2022. A memorial committee, made up of representatives of the dead, survivors and local residents, has been set up to make plans for a erection A memorial at the site.

Grenfell United, a group for bereaved survivors and families, said it was “shocked” by the development “given the government’s promise that no decision would be made about the future of the tower without full consultation with the victims and survivors”.

The statement added: “The government has dealt with less than 10 dead and survivors in this matter so far. How can the tower be demolished before legal proceedings are over, when no judge on the ground can assure that it will not impede future criminal prosecutions? Justice is important to all of us and anything that might prevent justice should not be an option.

“Many in the Grenfell community accept removing the Tower will always be a case of when, not if, but the timeline must be determined by the bereaved, the survivors, and the community, not the government—who did nothing to make the changes necessary to prevent this from happening again.”

In May, the Observer reported that relatives of the Grenfell Tower fire victims had proposed plans to turn the building into a “vertical jungle” after the government announced it was ready to demolish the building. The structure will be covered with 72 plant species, at a rate of one for every person who lost their life in the fire in June 2017.

The government had published a letter revealing that it was considering whether and when Grenfell Tower should be removed, and promised that “the opinions of the community” would be taken into account after survivors and bereaved families were invited to meetings.

Hossam Choucair, who lost six members of his family in the fire, told The Observer at the time: “A tragedy that should never be forgotten happened in this place. If they remove it, they will erase that memory and will expose people to another unimaginable trauma.”

“The ashes of our loved ones are in the fabric of that building.”

Hossam Choucair lost six close family members in the Grenfell Tower fire. “The ashes of our loved ones are in the fabric of that building,” he said. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

One option suggested among relatives was the Living Tower, based on the vision of Italian architect Stefano Boeri, who designed many “vertical forests” on buildings across Europe.

Choucair added that relatives of those who died were looking to commission their own structural engineers to inspect the site and sought assistance from the Institute of Chartered Engineers to support a full independent assessment.

A spokesperson for MHCLG said: “We know how important and sensitive this decision is, and no decision has been made. Following important independent safety advice from structural engineers, we are closely engaging with the community as we consider the evidence including safety concerns raised, and what should be done. It shall be the future of Grenfell Tower.

“We have now published this advice to ensure that those most affected have access to the information that will inform the decision about the tower, before reaching one of them.”

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