{"id":1163238,"date":"2026-08-22T15:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1163238\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T15:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:40:20","slug":"campaigners-demand-action-as-disabled-high-rise-tenants-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1163238\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaigners demand action as disabled high-rise tenants left"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite new regulations many disabled tenants continue to feel unsafe reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ACampaigner Adam Gabsi and London Assembly member Hina Bokhari \u2013 (Credit: Kumail Jaffer\/LDRS)<\/p>\n

Disabled Londoners in high rise flats are still living in fear over their safety if a fire was to break out, a leading campaigner has said.<\/p>\n

Fifteen of the 37 disabled residents living in Grenfell Tower at the time of the 2017 blaze lost their lives \u2013 equivalent to 41 per cent. Five years later, the inquiry into the tragedy recommended that personalised evacuation plans be issued to residents of tower blocks with disabilities or reduced mobility.<\/p>\n

These eventually came into force in April, meaning disabled Londoners in specific residential buildings have been able to request tailored emergency escape support from their landlords or housing providers.<\/p>\n

However, campaigners have raised concerns over the regulations, which mean disabled residents will only be eligible for a Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (RPEEP) if they live in buildings which are over 18 metres or seven storeys, or buildings between 11 and 18 metres tall with a \u2018simultaneous\u2019 evacuation strategy.<\/p>\n

Those in buildings under 11 metres tall are not entitled to a plan under the rules.<\/p>\n

Adam Gabsi, Co-Chair of Inclusion London, told the London Assembly Fire Committee in June that many disabled social housing residents, including him, continue to feel unsafe in their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmoke does not discriminate based on height,\u201d he said. \u201cIf smoke was to rise to the seventh floor, it is not going to stop, and likewise, a fire does not discriminate based on where you are. If someone is disabled on the ground floor, the first floor, the second floor, they are still disabled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we waiting for, my building, me to burn? What are we waiting for here?\u201d<\/p>\n

On a visit to Gabsi\u2019s flat in Harrow, North West London, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) identified several major concerns, including damp, mould, and \u2013 crucial in any evacuation \u2013 broken lifts.<\/p>\n

Gabsi, who lives on the sixth floor of Trident Point, said he has little confidence that he would make it out alive if there was a fire in the block, which is run by Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the fire alarm was to ring here, I would have a serious issue with getting outside,\u201d he said. \u201cPreviously, I found the evacuation chair to be locked behind a cupboard of which I don\u2019t have the code, which kind of negates the purpose for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also been told that it can only be used by firefighters, which again doesn\u2019t amount to equal evacuation processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a fire safe lift \u2013 however, that lift is not working. So what is the point? There is total negligence by by the housing provider and housing association.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t arrangements [for a fire]. At this point, I\u2019m going to say a prayer and just stay in my house, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month the Fire Committee wrote to the mayor to demand more engagement between social housing landlords and residents.<\/p>\n

Chair Anne Clarke, a Labour Assembly member, said: \u201cNine years after the Grenfell Tower fire, we heard compelling evidence that many social housing residents continue to feel unsafe in their homes. No Londoner should live in fear of fire safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy chair Hina Bokhari, who has long held City Hall to account over the plight of disabled Londoners, said the current situation was \u201coutrageous\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Adam and the residents in this building having to deal with \u2013 I\u2019m close to tears,\u201d the Liberal Democrat assembly member told the LDRS.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a fire here, if something terrible happened here, do we see another Grenfell? Yes \u2013 that is my blunt and honest opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody who lives in high rise flats are at risk. And when it comes to disabled residents, I\u2019m actually really depressed. I feel as if they\u2019re signing a death wish by living here in a high rise flat now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings haven\u2019t moved on since Grenfell \u2013 it is absolutely outrageous that we\u2019re in this situation. We still haven\u2019t got accessible housing that is affordable for disabled Londoners. The mayor is not doing his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabsi added: \u201cHe is pandering to developers rather than really thinking about Londoners \u2013 the safety of disabled people should be paramount.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe not a fringe group, we\u2019re not a small group, and we are the one marginalised group that anyone could join at any time. The fact that this is not being taken seriously is very disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Hall plans to publish a Disability Action Plan next month. The document will make a series of commitments on housing, employment, transport, community safety and accessing services.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the mayor said: \u201cFor many years the mayor strongly lobbied the previous Government to introduce legislation for RPEEPs and welcomed the introduction of this law in April this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has continued to encourage the government to widen the scope of the new legislation to incorporate all residential blocks and for there to be central funding to pay for them, as well as pushing building owners and landlords to implement these plans as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vital that ministers continue to work with deaf and disabled groups to ensure the legislation and guidance is as effective as it can be, and to monitor how these plans are being implemented across the country. The mayor is also committed to working with the London Fire Brigade and local authorities to ensure disabled Londoners have safe evacuation routes and appropriate support during emergencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

An MTVH housing association spokesperson said: \u201cWe understand the concerns raised by residents with regards to the issues they have experienced at Trident Point. Their safety and wellbeing is our top priority and we are working closely with them to identify appropriate support to ensure effective arrangements are in place in the event of an emergency evacuation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Trident Point, Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans are in place for residents with identified evacuation needs. We are currently reviewing and updating these plans with residents to ensure they reflect new legal requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise that there have been intermittent reliability issues with the lifts installed at Trident Point in 2022 and 2023. We continue to work with the lift contractor, landlords and the building\u2019s managing agents, Y&Y and Orbit, to deliver a long-term solution. Whenever a lift outage occurs, we proactively contact affected residents to review support arrangements and determine whether any additional measures are required.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaks, which resulted in water damage, have been resolved. We are now working with Y&Y to complete remedial works and address any remaining damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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More Information about donations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite new regulations many disabled tenants continue to feel unsafe reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter Campaigner Adam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1163239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,74595,6333,257,16130,25229,16,15],"class_list":["post-1163238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-grenfell","tag-housing","tag-london","tag-london-assembly","tag-mayor-of-london","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117139922916353024","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1163238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1163238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1163238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1163238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}