Grenfell Recovery Strategy

The Grenfell Legacy Rehousing and Allocations Project aims to build upon and embed lessons from the Grenfell tragedy about the way the Council works with residents who are in housing need. 

The project will incorporate feedback from the experience of those on the housing register by working with a residents’ panel, the Resident Reference Group. Together, the group will help us produce a set of key principles and recommendations to be taken forward, both through the upcoming review of the allocations scheme, and potentially through other pilot initiatives to test new ways of working, tools or amendments to policy.

The Resident Reference Group will also set a clear timeline for reviewing these principles and their outcomes to ensure long term sustainable change in the allocations and rehousing processes.  

Applications to be part of the Resident Reference Group have now closed. If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected]

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is the project?

The Grenfell Rehousing and Allocations Project aims to improve the resident experience of applying for and being rehoused to a Council or housing association permanent home. It will build upon lessons learned from the response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the knowledge of residents with recent experience of the Council’s rehousing processes. 

We want to learn more about how we might embed new ways of working with residents, to ensure everyone is given enough knowledge about their options to make informed decisions, is treated with respect and dignity and is empowered to make the right housing choices.

How will we work with residents?

We want to include residents who are interested in sharing their experience of the housing or rehousing process and their ideas about how to improve it.

Residents and community partners will be invited to put themselves forward for a panel called the `Resident Reference Group’. The Group will meet monthly to discuss and help shape the project.

Who can be a panel member?

We want to include a broad range of residents and community partners with varied experiences of Council housing schemes and processes. We expect that Group members will have at least one of the following:

• current experience of the Council’s Housing Register
• direct experience of the Council’s Housing Register and rehousing process, gained through having moved into permanent accommodation (either a Council or Housing Association Home) in the past 7 years
• experience of supporting residents with the Council’s housing allocations process including those affected by the Grenfell tragedy; for example, this might relate to helping residents who are overcrowded or who are willing to downsize because they have spare bedrooms, who have health problems and need to move to a home suited to their needs, or who are living in temporary accommodation provided by the Council 
• experience of supporting the rehousing of survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy
• experience of engaging and supporting residents in the community with housing 

What will the Resident Reference Group do?

The Resident Reference Group will share their experience of and ideas about the Council’s housing allocations and rehousing processes, review relevant research and come up with recommendations for how the Council can work differently with residents (no prior experience of research and review work is required). This could include the following.

• Reviewing best practice and examples from other Local Authorities, housing providers and organisations supporting those looking for a new home.
• Planning and designing resident engagement exercises to encourage wider community participation in the review of the Council’s current rehousing processes.
• Drawing out key themes from the experience of those seeking to be rehoused in the borough and using this to inform changes to the process.
• Reviewing and monitoring the learning from the experiences of panel members to recommend new ways of working throughout the course of the project.
• Suggesting ways we can monitor success of new initiatives.
• Monitoring the impact of any new ways of working being trialled under this project and making recommendations for changes.
• Making recommendations for future work, including the Council’s upcoming wide-ranging review of its Allocations Policy.

The Resident Reference Group will be supported in this worked by a dedicated Grenfell Legacy Project Manager. For example, the Project Manager will provide the panel members with relevant research, information and data to inform their work and help facilitate the sessions. 

How will members of the Resident Reference Group be recruited?

The Council will write to everyone that is currently on the housing register, or who have been rehoused within the last seven years, to invite them to participate in the .Resident Reference Group. To express your interest, you will need to fill out a short form, which will ask you for basic information such as your contact information, your availability and your experience of the rehousing process. This is to ensure that we have a panel that represents the various ways in which residents will experience the Council’s allocations and rehousing processes.
If we receive more applications than we have spaces for, priority will be given to those who are not yet on any other Council organised housing panels.

How much time will I have to give?

Members will be expected to join a monthly meeting for a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes a month. There will be occasions where it will be important to have the time to read background information in advance of this meeting. All background information and documents will be made in accessible formats, e.g. for members for whom English may not be a first language, members with visual impairment, or members with learning difficulties.

We understand that it is not always possible to make every meeting. However, as members of the Resident Reference Group will help to shape and develop this project, it will be important that you are able to attend as many meetings as possible.  Members who miss three meetings in a row without valid reasons may be asked to withdraw from the Group.

When will the Resident Reference Group begin its work?

Once the recruitment has taken place, the Resident Reference Group will begin to meet monthly from the end of November.