Grenfell Tower blaze survivors to be rehoused in luxury flats nearby

Hundreds of survivors of a massive fire that engulfed a 24-storey residential tower block in west London earlier this month are to be rehoused in a luxury development nearby, the British government said on Wednesday.

The government has acquired 68 flats in the Kensington Row development near Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, where the massive fire ripped through nearly 120 flats on June 14 resulting in at least 79 dead or missing and leaving hundreds homeless. The building was home to some 600 people. The replacement apartments are classed as "newly built social housing" in a complex where the price of private homes starts at £1.5 million.

The flats are likely to be completed by the end of July.

The UK's Department for Communities and Local Government said extra public money had been found so the flats could be fitted out more quickly, and more builders had been taken on.

"The residents of Grenfell Tower have been through some of the most harrowing and traumatic experiences imaginable and it is our duty to support them. Our priority is to get everyone who has lost their home permanently rehoused locally as soon as possible, so that they can begin to rebuild their lives," said UK communities minister Sajid Javid.