When will the Tories get a grip on the post-Grenfell construction chaos?

It’s been more than six years since the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people and made many more homeless, yet the survivors – and families of those who died – are still waiting for answers. The Grenfell Inquiry, which launched a few months after the disaster, was meant to hold people to account, to question the management and design of high-rise buildings and to rebuild trust. Yet the only tangible results so far seem to have been the £70 million paid to an army of lawyers.

The Inquiry has been labelled a ‘never-ending circus’ by the British-Nigerian novelist, Jendella Benson. It’s a description that is hard to disagree with. And while the Inquiry trundles on, a different kind of crisis is looming large. In the wake of the Grenfell disaster, there is widespread confusion about regulation within the building industry. Architects and builders are struggling to keep up with the latest rules and they fear what new and confusing regulation might be around the corner.