The south London tower block where six people died in one of Britain’s worst fires is to be renovated and turned into homes again.
Three women and three young children were killed, and another 20 people were injured, by the blaze at Lakanal House, Camberwell, five years ago. Builders will begin refurbishing the 14-storey block in April next year, Southwark council has announced.
The building is expected to be ready for new residents in summer 2016.
The fire broke out around 4pm on July 3, 2009. It is believed to have started in a ninth-floor flat, after a TV developed an electrical fault, before rapidly spreading. Around 150 people were evacuated but three women and three children remained in their flats.
Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her daughter Thais, six, and son Felipe, three, Helen Udoaka, 34, and her 20-day-old daughter Michelle, and 31-year-old Catherine Hickman all died within 90 minutes of the fire starting.
An inquest in March last year found the blaze was caused by botched renovation work and Southwark council’s failure to inspect the building. The jury also blamed confusion and chaos during the firefighting operation.
It had been thought that the building, constructed in 1959, could be demolished. But Southwark council has revealed all 91 council flats and seven private flats will be refurbished. Another seven new homes will also be built next to the block.
Tenants who lived in the block before the fire are to be offered homes in the newly-renovated building, on the Sceaux Gardens Estate. Peter John, the leader of Southwark council, said: “Now is the right time to move forward and it is good to see a positive step for people living here.”
John McGrath, chairman of Sceaux Gardens Estate tenants’ and residents’ association, said: “We are pleased that a positive outcome has been reached after such a terrible tragedy.”
