Grenfell fifth anniversary: Numbers behind the tragedy and its aftermath

In the five years since the Grenfell Tower fire, there have been four housing secretaries, three evacuated families are still awaiting permanent homes, and two phases of a public inquiry into the tragedy. Grenfell survivors and bereaved family members will mark the fifth anniversary of the deaths of 72 people on June 14 2017. That poignant number is being displayed around North Kensington on green hearts, which have become a symbol of the tragedy. It is the one statistic that will forever be associated with the fire. Here, we break down the other figures behind the tragedy and its aftermath. – The response since the fire £5.1 billion – funding promised by the Government to replace unsafe cladding in all buildings over 18m in height in England, made up of £3.5 billion promised in 2021, and £1.6 billion promised in 2020. 201 – households needed rehoming after the fire. Three of these are still in temporary homes, according to the the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 1,826 – days in the five years since the fire took place. 486 – buildings over 18m tall that were identified as having Grenfell-style cladding on them. 58 – buildings over 18m tall that have yet to have their cladding removed as of May 2022. 1,149 – buildings in London that require emergency measures such as waking watches due to fire safety issues. Four housing secretaries (now known as Levelling Up) Michael Gove 2021 to 2022 Robert Jenrick 2019 to 2021 James Brokenshire 2018 to 2019 Sajid Javid 2018 – Rehousing of survivors: As of June 8: Three – families in temporary homes. 198 – households in permanent homes. £406 million – approximate amount spent by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on its response and recovery efforts as of May of last year. – Public inquiry 1,730 – days since the opening of the Grenfell inquiry. 644 – the total number of core participants in the inquiry, including civil servants, politicians and survivors. £149 million – amount spent by the inquiry as of March 2022. According to figures obtained by The Guardian, the overall cost – including legal fees not covered by the inquiry – is on course to exceed a quarter of a billion pounds. 96 – the number of people who former Department for Communities and Local Government secretary Lord Pickles said died in the Grenfell fire during his testimony to the inquiry.

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