There has been inaccurate media reporting suggesting former residents of Spectrum Building in Dagenham are being made to pay for the building’s fire safety works. This is not true.
Since the fire in August 2024, the building’s freeholder has gone into administration. The administrators at Spectrum are now in control of the money, including insurance proceeds. It is the administrator's responsibility to pay these funds out to former residents to cover for losses and damages caused by the fire. We have been clear with the administrator that this must be done urgently.
Through our Building Safety Fund, we granted £5.9m for remediation at the Spectrum building, which was still taking place at the time of the fire in August 2024. The full funding was approved in July 2023, and works started on site in December 2023.
As part of the legal process in formally closing the Building Safety Fund project, and in line with our duty to manage public money, the Greater London Authority has informed the administrators of our interest as a potential creditor in the administration. This is a technical, procedural step which is standard practice in insolvency law.
Our position as a creditor will have no impact on the money that residents are owed. The only situation in which the government would be due any funds would be if there is money left over after residents have been fully compensated.
Our continued priority remains making sure the residents of the Spectrum Building are fully compensated, so they can start to rebuild their lives.
An MHCLG spokesperson said:
“Former residents of Spectrum building must be fairly and urgently compensated for their losses, and it is for the administrator to make sure that they get any money they are rightfully owed.
“Our interest is getting back taxpayers’ money that was not used for its intended purpose – and this does not supersede the interests of the residents. We will make sure that any money we may be entitled to does not limit what the residents receive."