Tower Blocks

[whiskeryron]

Now that authorities are realising that tower blocks are dangerous places to be living in & hundreds of people are going to have to be rehoused, the truth is at last emerging about the faulty Thatcher plan regarding people being encouraged to buy their council houses. Councils were not allowed to re invest the money from house sales to re build council houses which of course resulted in a grave shortage of council properties which of course are now desperately needed. In retrospect now very short sighted.

[Togo]

No but they were allowed to invest the money on upgrading the remaining social housing stock, which they failed to do. The cash was siphoned off into their pension schemes and vanity projects and not used to make safe and habitable the properties that they retained, tower blocks for instance. The properties purchased by deserving tenants did not disappear and if they had not been sold the councils would not have been building new council houses any way.

[ToraToraTora]

nothing inherently wrong with Tower blocks, they just need strict anti fire measures by law. Sprinklers, fire retardant materials, etc etc just like the ones in the blocks of £1m+ flats that the well heeled have. Yet another creative way to blame TGL for all Ills ron, she's been out of power since 1990, surely she cannot be blamed for ever.

[anotheoldgit]

When are the Left going to cease trying to gain political points out of such a tragedy?

They should be ashamed of themselves.

[whiskeryron]

//When are the Left going to cease trying to gain political points out of such a tragedy?

They should be ashamed of themselves.//. Just to let you know yet again, I am not of the left. I just like to tell the truth !!

[ummmm]

And it was labour who kicked off the right to buy scheme.

[Islay]

Oh god not that Thatcher rubbish again!!
Tower blocks are not dangerous to live in, it was a failure of the councils to investigate that the product they were paying for was up to fire safety standard!!

[Guilbert53]

Any other dead Tory Prime Ministers we can blame for something.

Of course Labour Prime Ministers have never done anything wrong have they (Blair and Iraq war anyone).

Much as I hate him I would love to see Corbyn in power for a while just for him to find out how difficult it is.

[naomi24]

Ron, //the faulty Thatcher plan regarding people being encouraged to buy their council houses.//

That was originally a Labour initiative, part of one of its manifestos - but it lost that particular election. You will note that when Labour subsequently held office, it didn't reverse the policy of selling council houses, presumably because it still thought it was a spiffing idea.

[Baldric]

You've really got to admire Maggie, she really touched a raw nerve with our resident Lefties and they're still smarting, good on ya Gal.

[tamborine]

Peeps the world over live in tower blocks safely. The cladding was faulty here, plus the idiot who blew up his freezer. A fire extinguisher might have resolved the issue that anyone can buy from B&Q.

[ummmm]

The idiot didn't blow up his freezer! It caught fire...

[tamborine]

So he says ummm....he had time to pack his bags & warn his neighbor before leaving. No reports so far of other Hotpoint freezers catching fire.....mine is 40y old & still works fine & I do have fire extinguishers, just in case.

[mikey4444]

I would like to see it made compulsory, that a fire extinguisher be placed on every landing, on every floor.

[tamborine]

£10 for safety....buy one or 2 more

http://www.safelincs.co.uk/car-fire-extinguisher-fireblitz/?fGB=true&gclid=CKjdsNao2dQCFYO87QodtVQE-w

[youngmafbog]

The problem is Mickey they get vandalised, stolen or abused - like used for propping open fire doors.

But until we know the real reasons why this happened, how it started, how it spread to the outside, how it spread when outside, why people couldn't use the central stairs to get etc etc it is not really a good idea to keep harping on one favourite line.

Without doubt this was a series/combination of problems that led to the perfect storm with the catastrophic consequences we saw. I doubt it will be one person or Governments fault entirely either.

[youngmafbog]

In our houses we have always installed fire alarms. It was amazing the number of tenants who removed the battery and didnt replace it (nor did they even ask for one). We resolved it by installing mains interlinked ones but someone for some reason even disconnected that!

[mikey4444]

YMB........I am hardly "harping on" by saying that fire extinguishers should be provided. I would be surprised if what I have suggested isn't already the law.

As regards to the being stolen, etc, then its up to the Landlords, whoever they are, to be responsible for maintaining the building in a safe manner. If that includes making regular daily checks then so be it.

[youngmafbog]

So the Landlord checks, finds one missing replaces it 5 mins later it is nicked again and so on. Is that what you think is acceptable?

[mikey4444]

No, of course not, but neither do I consider cladding Tower Blocks with flammable material.

[Old_Geezer]

I reckon that for some quotes you could replace "Maggie" with "Myra Hindley" and make as much sense.

Ron, what the heck do you mean, "in retrospect" ? It was criticised at the time, but was still a vote winner among council tenants.