I am concerned at the political gesture of the overhasty decision to spend £10 million on fire safety at Brent housing properties without securing any money from the government, or even knowing what the money will go towards. In the end it will come from the pockets of the tenants and one other group of people.
The other group are the leaseholders. These will be people who have either bought through the Right to Buy or the open market. Many of them may well be of modest means, but be about to be hit with a substantial bill with very little warning. Although the government does warn of these sort of dangers, not everyone is always aware of them, and Brent's current splurge will have come completely out of the blue. I hope the Council arranges a generous payment plan for those who struggle to meet such an unexpected cost.
Incidentally, I have been told that when full Council voted this spend through only one Councillor declared a close relationship with anyone living in a block. That is not as bad as the Leader of Kensington and Chelsea, but it does suggest to me that the councillors probably need some education about how Brent housing works.
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