(Photos) Succour! 250 homeless residents of Grenfell Tower rehoused in £2bn luxury block

Around 250 homeless and beleaguered survivors of
the devastating Grenfell Tower fire will be rehoused permanently inside a
£2billion luxury Kensington development, it was revealed today.

The 68 one, two and three bedroom properties have
been bought for just £10million and will provide refuge for families who lost
everything in the blaze that killed 79 people a week ago.

Apartments in the Kensington Row development are
currently on the market for between £1.5million and £8.5 million. The flats
have been bought by the Corporation of London, which will run them as part of
its social housing stock, Dailymail reported.

But developer St Edward has sold the 68 flats at
‘cost’ price even though they have a market value of around £160million.

The 250 Grenfell residents – around half of its
population – are currently in hotels or in extreme cases believed to be
sleeping rough in parks or in their cars.

But from the end of July they will living in the
development on Kensington High Street lauded as “one of London’s most sought
after new addresses.”

The apartments have large rooms and balconies
offering panoramic views of London and current residents also have access to a
swimming pool, sauna, cinema and gym.

It is not known whether the Grenfell survivors
will have the same access.

City of London Corporation immediately handed the
flats to Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, who have been so heavily
criticised since Britain’s worst fire for a generation.

The 68 flats for the Grenfell survivors was
announced just before Theresa May apologised for the failures by local and
national government in responding to the fire.

The property deal is a rare piece of good news
for the families who lost friends and loved ones in last week’s blaze.

It was paid for by the City of London Corporation
– the wealthy local authority responsible for the capital’s financial Square
Mile which reportedly has £1.32billion in the bank.

Grenfell, a 1974 tower block refurbished last
year, was engulfed by fire after a fridge exploded in its fourth floor.

Everyone on its top three storeys is believed to
have perished including dozens who cowered together in their final moments a
single room.

Others died trying to escape or even threw
themselves and their children out of windows to escape the deadly heat and
smoke.

Since the blaze anger has continued to mount over
Kensington council’s ‘chaotic’ handling of the Grenfell disaster amid reports of
survivors sleeping rough and being denied cash because of confusing forms.

Nearly a week after the blaze which killed 79 and
made hundreds homeless, desperate residents were said to still be struggling
with accommodation and support.

More than £300,000 of the £5m emergency fund has
been handed to families and over 100 people have been moved into hotels so far,
the group said.

However, Lawyer Khatija Sacranie, who is offering
free advice to those displaced, said some people trying to collect the aid
money had been turned away empty handed because they had completed the wrong
forms.

And one survivor said he was sent away with just
£20 after officials ran out of cash.

The botched response effort was branded as
‘appalling’ with people still ‘running around like headless chickens’ by
Kensington’s new Labour MP Emma Dent Coad.