PM strips Grenfell management firm of estate responsibility

The tenant management organisation (TMO) which manages Grenfell Tower and the surrounding estate is to be stripped of its responsibility, the prime minister has said.

Theresa May told the BBC she had a “respectful” meeting with survivors of the fire, and said they had been concerned about the Kensington & Chelsea TMO.

“I was pleased that I was able to tell them… that the TMO will no longer have responsibility for the Lancaster West housing estate,” the prime minister said.

May passed on the residents’ concerns to the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Elizabeth Campbell, who said she would consider “all options” for future management of the estate.

There was “no future role” for the TMO in the Lancaster West estate and residents would be consulted about a replacement, Campbell added.

The TMO was established in 1996 to manage almost 10,000 properties in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

It awarded Rydon the Grenfell Tower refurbishment contract in 2014, which is to be investigated as part of the public inquiry.