Ledbury Tenants Fight For Decent Homes

The Socialist has previously reported that the Ledbury estate in Southwark, following the Grenfell Tower fire, was declared wholly unsafe by structural engineers and residents told they may have to temporarily leave. This was due to large cracks which you could fit your whole hand into in the fabric of the four 13-storey tower blocks.

The Labour council was forced into action by the revelation that the blocks should never have been installed with gas because the structures would fail in the event of explosion and, like the Newham tower block Ronan Point in 1968, lead to collapse. Danielle Gregory, Ledbury tenant and leading figure in the Ledbury action group spoke to Southwark Socialist Party activist Bill Mullins.

Bill: Ledbury tenants had been complaining about the cracks for over 20 years. When did you get involved?

Danielle: I have been a tenant for eight years and raised the issue with the council many times. They said there was nothing to worry about, it was down to ‘natural movement’ but I realised it posed significant fire risk.