Grenfell United, the group representing the bereaved and survivors, has called on Barnet Group to reverse its appointment of the former housing director of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) at the time of the Grenfell fire.
Barnet Group is the council’s wholly owned housing company and the appointment has deeply angered survivors and campaigners.
Tenants of Barnet Homes who were not consulted on staffing have every reason to be concerned about this appointment and what it says about the organisation.
Toxic Relations
Laura Johnson was Kensington & Chelsea Council’s Housing Director from 2009 until shortly after the fire and oversaw the running of the Grenfell landlord’s tenant management organisation (TMO). The Grenfell inquiry was highly critical of its operation saying that it was responsible for “chronic and systemic failings” in fire safety management, as well as a “toxic” relationship with the tower’s residents.
Laura Johnson confirmed to the inquiry that she had failed to verify with the TMO whether it had fixed fire safety issues raised in a deficiency notice served on Grenfell Tower by the London Fire Brigade in November 2016.
There had also been incidents where lobbies of buildings had rapidly filled with smoke, often due to missing self-closing front doors. The failure to take the incidents seriously was also flagged by the inquiry as a key event in the deaths at Grenfell Tower.
In a scenario that will be familiar to many SHAC members, Laura Johnson requested checks on the tenancy status of one of TMO’s residents after he complained about service deficiencies.
She was also involved very early on in the decision to put cladding on the tower, which she said was to improve its appearance. Then, as part of her cost-cutting efforts, she “exercised decisive influence” over the works being retendered away from the company originally appointed for the work and awarded at a lower cost to Rydon.
Rydon achieved savings by using aluminium composite material cladding panels, which led to the rapid and vertical spread of the fire. This and other factors led the inquiry to conclude that Rydon bore “considerable responsibility” for the fire.
Accountability Rejected
Grenfell United point out that criminal accountability for the Grenfell Tower fire remains unresolved. The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that 57 individuals and 20 organisations are suspects in its ongoing investigation and that files are being submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging decisions. The group is critical that Barnet Council has made Laura Johnson’s appointment permanent prior to the conclusion of the criminal justice process. Nonetheless, Barnet Group has rejected the call from Grenfell United for her dismissal.
SHAC stands in solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Grenfell fire, alongside the emergency workers who attended the incident, many of whom were deeply traumatised by Britain’s deadliest residential fire since World War II.
24 September 2026
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Thanks for highlighting the action of Barnet Group in appointing Laura Johnson despite her heading up the TMO that managed Grenfell at the time of the fire and the fact she was cited by the enquiry as bearing responsibility for many calamitous and critical decisions. This goes along what has happened in the NHS over many years now, where CEOs and executives in place where and when severe service failings have been clearly identified, then go onto to obtain senior positions in other Health Trusts. Sadly this points to a situation where the Social Housing sector is becoming equally tainted by the rewards of failure. There is no more important time than now for the existence of SHAC to highlight the increasing failures and self serving nature of the Social Housing sector.