The People of Grenfell Tower
A common misconception is that Grenfell Tower was occupied solely by social housing tenants. In reality, the tower was home to a remarkably diverse community.
Grenfell Tower: Building and Community
Built in the 1970s, Grenfell Tower formed part of the Lancaster West housing estate in North Kensington, west London. The tower exemplified a wider urban development trend of the 1960s and 1970s, when local authorities constructed tower blocks across London to replace slum housing with affordable social housing.
By 2017, Grenfell Tower housed a remarkably diverse community. Its 129 flats were home to people of many nationalities, ethnicities and generations. Residents hailed from countries including the UK, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, and Syria, among others. The community spanned all age groups and life stages. Young families with children lived alongside elderly residents, some of whom had called Grenfell home for decades.
Professionally, the residents were equally varied, including artists, dressmakers, hairdressers, chefs, and architects. While some had established roots over many years, others had arrived more recently for work or educational opportunities. This blend of long-term residents and newcomers created a dynamic, multicultural community within the tower’s walls.
Grenfell Tower and North Kensington
A community of many cultures, languages and generations
Arabic · Somali · Spanish · Tigrinya · Amharic · Tagalog · Bengali · Portuguese · French · Albanian · Persian · Italian · Polish · Kurdish · English
Faith and belief, around the tower1
About these figures. Census figures are for the immediate Grenfell neighbourhood: Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Walk and neighbouring streets (population 1,540), not tower residents alone. Language figures cover state-school pupils living in North Kensington; the 15 languages listed include English. 1 A Journey of Recovery: Needs Assessment (2018), Table 1, 2011 Census. 2 Same report, Table 3, council schools census. 3 Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Phase 1 Report, Vol. 2, para 10.130.