The hardest and most important article I have written in 20 years of journalism: Five years ago on Tuesday, 72 people died at #Grenfell. Over 10 pages, this is the definitive account of the disaster - and the lies, cover-ups and mistakes that led to it thetimes.co.uk/article/corner… This is also the untold story of the 5-year-old girl from the Belkadi family on #Grenfell Tower's 20th floor: her mum, dad, big sister, 8, and baby sister all died. She alone survived. Her aunt Samira and I both cried talking about that terrible night thetimes.co.uk/article/corner…

thetimes.co.uk/article/buildi… This is a partial victory for @EOCS_Official leaseholders (and @thesundaytimes campaign to help them) but comes with a big caveat: good luck with making the companies pay unless the government forces them thetimes.co.uk/article/why-di…

New court claims alleging that Zurich signed off dangerous flats as safe without proper inspections raise questions about why the giant offloaded new home warranties onto off-shore owned East West, which collapsed & left liability with statutory safety net thetimes.co.uk/article/zurich… The cases also shine a light on why 700,000 live in flats that passed inspections but were found to have fire risks post Grenfell thetimes.co.uk/article/zurich…

1/6 Fire-risk bills of £100,000 per flat - much bigger than government policy has factored in - are landing on doormats as ministers plan loans for leaseholders #EndOurCladdingScandal thetimes.co.uk/article/hidden… 2/6 New @ARMAleasehold figures show average remediation bill is £50k per flat, of which flat owners must pay more than HALF for defects that breached building rules at the time but fall outside govt funds. This will add fuel to calls for developer levies thetimes.co.uk/article/hidden…

1/12 Today @thesundaytimes launches a campaign to #EndOurCladdingScandal – Britain’s #hiddenhousingscandal – with Grenfell survivors, trapped residents and @insidehousing @GrenfellUnited @ukcag @McrCladiators @BrumLag @SotonCAG @LeedsCladding #EWS1 thetimes.co.uk/article/carey-… 2/12 Backers of our #EndOurCladdingScandal campaign include Carey Mulligan, Marcus of @MumfordAndSons @KathyBurke @PhilSpencerTV @MrGeorgeClarke @Kevin_McCloud @leilanifarha @SadiqKhan @AndyBurnhamGM @andy4wm @MetroMayorSteve thetimes.co.uk/article/carey-…

For the past 2 weeks I spoke to >60 people to find out the true scale of the cladding crisis. It could leave 6% of homes unmortgageable for years and hit the whole housing market thetimes.co.uk/article/thousa… So far, 92% of blocks have failed detailed new safety checks. Then lenders won't lend and leaseholders must wait 5-10yrs (and pay £££££) before they get the sign-off they need to sell/get a new mortgage

The lives on hold inside the cladding scandal: "I no longer buy little things like contact lenses. That’s £25 a month — two days of waking-watch payments."
Abigail Tubis, 29, Leeds (1/5) @LeedsCladding @McrCladiators @LKPleasehold @ukcag @NLC_2019
thetimes.co.uk/article/proper… @LeedsCladding @McrCladiators @LKPleasehold @ukcag @NLC_2019 The lives on hold inside the cladding scandal: "I’m not only facing losing my home. Solicitors cannot be bankrupt, that would also mean losing my career." Rebecca Fairclough, 37, Manchester (2/5) thetimes.co.uk/article/proper…

Owners of leasehold homes could save tens of thousands of pounds when buying their freeholds or extending their lease under reforms outlined by @Law_Commission. thetimes.co.uk/article/housin… @LKPleasehold @NLC_2019 @Law_Commission @LKPleasehold @NLC_2019 Campaigners fear that the Law Commission's leasehold reforms will be scaled back as powerful freeholders, who could lose an estimated £16 billion through the proposals, threaten legal challenge.