A Grenfell campaigner who is still using his north Kensington apartment is claiming food allowances of up to £300 per week and has a hotel room funded by the taxpayer.
Forthright activist Joe Delaney, who has a flat next to Grenfell tower, has referred to himself as ‘homeless’, and claims he is living in a hotel room.
The 38-year-old stated that he could not stay in his apartment due to the trauma – but it appears he has been going home, according to a Sunday Times investigation.
Grenfell campaigner Joe Delaney is still using his north Kensington apartment but claiming food allowances of up to £300 per week and a has a hotel room funded by the tax payer
The 38-year-old was pictured leaving his north Kensington flat twice last week, but said he was staying with family outside of the London borough in both incidences
Delaney has been pictured leaving his apartment in north Kensington twice in one week, but claimed that at those times he was residing with family outside of the London borough.
The least expensive room in the west London Novotel hotel costs £120 a night.
Locals also said they saw Delaney frequently and did not know he had left.
People who live in the estates next to the tower which was ablaze in June last year are able to live in emergency accommodation and will be first in line for rehousing assistance when they want to move.
Grenfell Tower in north Kensington was ablaze on the 14 June of last year
They are also permitted to have £300 per week for food, if the emergency accommodation cannot provide it or they prefer their own – but this is not for those who have returned to their properties or have moved somewhere new.
It is understood Delaney has been offered help to find a new place to live by the council, but rejected the assistance.
The campaigner says the offer was declined because he would need to move back to his home or somewhere else in the meantime before he could go to a permanent address.
Delaney told the Sunday Times: ‘I have only been paid amounts to which I am entitled.’
The campaigner said that there ‘have been times I have pulled all-nighters here because I’ve been working on stuff.’
Delaney told the Sunday Times: ‘I have only been paid amounts to which I am entitled’
He went on to say: ‘I haven’t been keeping track of where I’ve been every night.’
The activist said he goes back to his flat to get his things, use his computer or meet other people who live there. He also said he does back the property when the council requests him to, and needs the hotel room as a place to sleep when he cannot go elsewhere.
A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesman said: ‘We are aware of the story in the Sunday Times today and council officers will be making contact with the resident as soon as possible. We offer no further comment at this stage.’
During a meeting with Sir Martin Moore-Bick last year, the judge leading the Grenfell enquiry, Delaney told him: ‘You’re going to do a Taylor Report like for Hillsborough.
‘Which was very technical but didn’t deal with the wider issues and it took 30 years for people to be arrested.’