After Grenfell, there is an opportunity to fix the UK's broken housing system | Dawn Foster

On the morning of 14 June, the images of Grenfell Tower shocked the world. Swiftly, it seemed, the public became aware of hitherto niche aspects of the housing sector, from council outsourcing and external cladding to tenant management organisations. But will the disaster lead to real change in the way residents are treated?

Jenny Osbourne, chief executive of the Tenant Participation Advisory Service, a membership group that brings together tenants, community workers and landlords to get residents’ voices heard within housing associations, believes progress is being made. “We’re seeing a shift – the voices of tenants are finally being listened to, particularly in matters of safety and regulation,” she says. “I am hopeful that landlords will reassess their relationships with their tenants and the wider community.”

Gail McAnena is a social housing tenant waiting to hear when her home will be demolished to make way for the HS2 rail line, and what will happen to her family. Communication has been sporadic and the household has no idea how long they’ll stay in their home, where they will be moved to, or what sort of tenancy will be offered. McAnena is understandably sceptical that any lasting change will occur in terms of tenant treatment without the legislation to back it. “To be a social housing tenant today is to feel lucky but vulnerable,” she says. “Fewer and fewer people now have a secure tenancy and the Grenfell tragedy has made us question the safety of those homes we do have; but it has also highlighted how few properties are available.”

McAnena questions how likely tenants are to complain when they know they cannot easily be rehoused. “I hope the conversation that has opened up will not go cold again before any much-needed changes are implemented,” she says.

Camden councillor and Green member of the London Assembly Sian Berry says she’s already seen shifts in decision-making after the disaster, with a ruling by the Information Commissioner making it easier for residents to check fire safety reports in their borough. “It shouldn’t take a disaster to give more power back to residents to manage their homes, but I hope we see dramatic improvements now,” she says.

One of the most horrifying aspects of the disaster was a blog by the tower’s residents’ association: a damning three-year account of warnings over fire safety and problems in the tower. The fire could have been prevented, it seems, if tenants had been listened to.

So, are lessons being learned, or could this happen again? Anna Minton, author of Big Capital, a recent book on the London housing crisis, says: “Right now it does feel like the horror of Grenfell has changed everything, because public opinion will no longer countenance communities being ignored in this way. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally change housing policy. Whether politicians will seize that opportunity remains to be seen.”

This article is part of a print supplement on housing, published on 20 September 2017.

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