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| Grenfell Tower MP highlights huge social divisions in London | Grenfell Tower MP highlights huge social divisions in London |
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| A damning report on inequality in Kensington and Chelsea has highlighted the close proximity of extreme wealth and poverty in the area around Grenfell Tower, revealing that in some parts of the borough average incomes can “drop 10 times as you cross a street”. | A damning report on inequality in Kensington and Chelsea has highlighted the close proximity of extreme wealth and poverty in the area around Grenfell Tower, revealing that in some parts of the borough average incomes can “drop 10 times as you cross a street”. |
| Five months after the Grenfell fire disaster focused attention on income and housing divisions within Kensington and Chelsea, a local MP, Emma Dent Coad, has compiled a report pinpointing the economic faultlines in the area. | Five months after the Grenfell fire disaster focused attention on income and housing divisions within Kensington and Chelsea, a local MP, Emma Dent Coad, has compiled a report pinpointing the economic faultlines in the area. |
| Across the borough, life expectancy is the highest in the country, but the age at which people die varies dramatically depending on where they live within Kensington and Chelsea. In parts of Knightsbridge, near Harrods, a man can expect to live to 94; in a poorer part of the borough, near Grenfell, the average life expectancy for a man is 72, a figure which has dropped six years since 2010, the report notes. | Across the borough, life expectancy is the highest in the country, but the age at which people die varies dramatically depending on where they live within Kensington and Chelsea. In parts of Knightsbridge, near Harrods, a man can expect to live to 94; in a poorer part of the borough, near Grenfell, the average life expectancy for a man is 72, a figure which has dropped six years since 2010, the report notes. |
| The child poverty level across the borough is 27%, about the London average, but in the poorest pockets it stands at 58%, while in the most expensive stretch around Hyde Park it is just 6%. One street in Knightsbridge has a 0% health deprivation rating, but one block on a council estate two miles away (still within the borough) has a 65% health deprivation rating. | The child poverty level across the borough is 27%, about the London average, but in the poorest pockets it stands at 58%, while in the most expensive stretch around Hyde Park it is just 6%. One street in Knightsbridge has a 0% health deprivation rating, but one block on a council estate two miles away (still within the borough) has a 65% health deprivation rating. |
| In the World’s End estate, residents have an average income of £15,000 a year, while owners of nearby homes on the other side of the King’s Road have average earnings of £100,000. | In the World’s End estate, residents have an average income of £15,000 a year, while owners of nearby homes on the other side of the King’s Road have average earnings of £100,000. |
| “Kensington and Chelsea, where I was born and bred, is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong in our country in the past few years,” Dent Coad wrote in the After Grenfell: inequality report. “It is a place where inequality has become a gross spectacle. Where childhood poverty, overcrowding and homelessness live cheek by jowl with opulent second homes, palatial apartments for the mega-rich and vast outflows of rent to corporate landlords. | “Kensington and Chelsea, where I was born and bred, is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong in our country in the past few years,” Dent Coad wrote in the After Grenfell: inequality report. “It is a place where inequality has become a gross spectacle. Where childhood poverty, overcrowding and homelessness live cheek by jowl with opulent second homes, palatial apartments for the mega-rich and vast outflows of rent to corporate landlords. |
| “The entirely preventable atrocity at Grenfell Tower has revealed the extent of inequality in Kensington and Chelsea, and the years of poor political decision-making and financial mismanagement.” | “The entirely preventable atrocity at Grenfell Tower has revealed the extent of inequality in Kensington and Chelsea, and the years of poor political decision-making and financial mismanagement.” |
| The MP, who took her seat just four days before the fire, has promised to make fighting for better low-cost housing in the constituency her “Grenfell legacy”. As the police and public inquiry into the tragedy begins preliminary investigations, Dent Coad noted: “Whatever the public inquiry and criminal investigation finally reveal … most of us know that the underlying story is the lack of investment in social housing.” | The MP, who took her seat just four days before the fire, has promised to make fighting for better low-cost housing in the constituency her “Grenfell legacy”. As the police and public inquiry into the tragedy begins preliminary investigations, Dent Coad noted: “Whatever the public inquiry and criminal investigation finally reveal … most of us know that the underlying story is the lack of investment in social housing.” |
| The statistics brought together in the report are not new, but have been compiled by the MP to illustrate social divisions that cut through the area. Kensington was a safe Conservative constituency, held by Tory politicians since it was established in 1974, until Dent Coad overturned her predecessor’s 7,000 majority, winning by just 20 votes in June. | The statistics brought together in the report are not new, but have been compiled by the MP to illustrate social divisions that cut through the area. Kensington was a safe Conservative constituency, held by Tory politicians since it was established in 1974, until Dent Coad overturned her predecessor’s 7,000 majority, winning by just 20 votes in June. |
| The Conservative leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Elizabeth Campbell, described the report as “opportunistic”, but acknowledged that councillors were aware of the underlying issues and wanted to tackle them. | The Conservative leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Elizabeth Campbell, described the report as “opportunistic”, but acknowledged that councillors were aware of the underlying issues and wanted to tackle them. |
| Across the borough, more than 6,000 homes are owned by companies registered in tax havens, according to Dent Coad’s research. “They do not contribute to our communities, support our shops, cafes and restaurants, or pay UK tax. None of this is illegal,” she wrote. She calculated that there are 1,200 long-term empty homes, and 9,300 second homes within the borough. | Across the borough, more than 6,000 homes are owned by companies registered in tax havens, according to Dent Coad’s research. “They do not contribute to our communities, support our shops, cafes and restaurants, or pay UK tax. None of this is illegal,” she wrote. She calculated that there are 1,200 long-term empty homes, and 9,300 second homes within the borough. |
| She was concerned that rising rents and a race by international investors to buy property in central London have made prices unaffordable for even high-income households and have pushed poorer families out of the area. “The median income in K&C is £140,000, the highest in the country, though this is still not enough to buy a home at the average cost of £1.5m,” the report noted. | She was concerned that rising rents and a race by international investors to buy property in central London have made prices unaffordable for even high-income households and have pushed poorer families out of the area. “The median income in K&C is £140,000, the highest in the country, though this is still not enough to buy a home at the average cost of £1.5m,” the report noted. |
| Dent Coad wrote that the area was “in danger of becoming an elephant’s graveyard of overpriced, oversized and overseas-owned properties that no one lives in, while Kensington’s grafters and public sector workers are priced out of the area”. In Queen’s Gate, a street running south of Hyde Park, “one in five are empty homes and at weekends it is a ghost town”. In Ashburn Place, in the south of the borough, “seven in 10 are second or empty homes”, the report stated. | Dent Coad wrote that the area was “in danger of becoming an elephant’s graveyard of overpriced, oversized and overseas-owned properties that no one lives in, while Kensington’s grafters and public sector workers are priced out of the area”. In Queen’s Gate, a street running south of Hyde Park, “one in five are empty homes and at weekends it is a ghost town”. In Ashburn Place, in the south of the borough, “seven in 10 are second or empty homes”, the report stated. |
| The council is spending £10m to buy cheaper property in outer London for homeless families whom they have a legal duty to house, which will see poorer residents housed miles from Kensington and Chelsea. “While robustly denying they are guilty of social cleansing, the council committed to spending a huge £10m of council taxpayers’ money to buy property outside the borough to house residents in temporary accommodation,” she wrote. | The council is spending £10m to buy cheaper property in outer London for homeless families whom they have a legal duty to house, which will see poorer residents housed miles from Kensington and Chelsea. “While robustly denying they are guilty of social cleansing, the council committed to spending a huge £10m of council taxpayers’ money to buy property outside the borough to house residents in temporary accommodation,” she wrote. |
| In one area of the borough, 68% of properties were overcrowded; in another only 17% exceeded the overcrowding limit, according to her research. The report also looked at health inequalities, and stated that cases of TB, diabetes, chronic heart and lung disease have risen in the past six years. Doctors were treating a child with full-blown rickets, she wrote. With funding for primary school sports activities declining, obesity among 10-year-olds in the borough had more than doubled from 8.6% in 2010 to 20% in 2016. | In one area of the borough, 68% of properties were overcrowded; in another only 17% exceeded the overcrowding limit, according to her research. The report also looked at health inequalities, and stated that cases of TB, diabetes, chronic heart and lung disease have risen in the past six years. Doctors were treating a child with full-blown rickets, she wrote. With funding for primary school sports activities declining, obesity among 10-year-olds in the borough had more than doubled from 8.6% in 2010 to 20% in 2016. |
| Campbell said: “Using the Grenfell disaster to try and drive a wedge between communities in the borough is just opportunistic. This report, littered with typos and factual errors, only tells us some of the things we know already and want to tackle in the coming years under the council’s new leadership. It offers no solutions – which is both surprising and disappointing for a local MP and councillor.” | Campbell said: “Using the Grenfell disaster to try and drive a wedge between communities in the borough is just opportunistic. This report, littered with typos and factual errors, only tells us some of the things we know already and want to tackle in the coming years under the council’s new leadership. It offers no solutions – which is both surprising and disappointing for a local MP and councillor.” |