In the UK no one ever talks about how much they earn: it is considered incredibly rude to ask and incredibly vulgar to share. So a strange proxy has developed, where instead we talk about our houses, where we live and how much our neighbours’ house cost them. It allows everyone to establish relative wealth without talking about earnings.

More than other countries, the idea of wealth and financial well-being in the UK is predicated on owning a house yet the government now seems chronically unable to develop a policy that would allow most adults to buy their own property in the future.

My generation caught the tail-end of the housing price boom so to a certain extent we are now sitting on a huge pile of entirely unearned wealth. We cannot sell our house since we need somewhere to live, so the cash value of our property is likely to remain untapped until we die.

The average age of beneficiaries in the Uk is 61, so my kids will not inherit this wealth (which will be taxed in the UK, albeit only amounts about £1m) until they are long past raising their own families. So my children, unless we dig deep into our pockets to help them buy (and most parents are obviously not wealthy enough to do this out of income and/or savings) will rent property.

Given that rental property is a feature of an entire generations live and expectations, the UK needs to have a decent policy towards rental housing, which includes social housing.

With the burnt out Grenville Tower still standing over central London, and the personal testimonies of loss being heard in the investigation, the LSE Housing and Communities, in partnership with the National Communities Resource Centre at Trafford Hall, have published what they consider to be the ten most important lessons to be learned:

Lesson 1: There should be a single point of control for any multi-storey block so that everyone knows, whether it is staff, residents or emergency services, where to go and who is responsible whenever an emergency arises.

Lesson 2: A full record of work that has been done must be kept, including the costs, the rationale, the specifications and implementation, with a continuous sequence of recorded information from start to finish, handed over on completion to the responsible owner/manager.

Lesson 3: There should be the equivalent of an MOT test for all multi-storey, high-rise and tower blocks as they have complex and linked internal systems, involving the interaction of many different technical features including plumbing, electrical wiring, heating, lift maintenance, roofs, windows, walls, fire doors, fire inhabitors, and means of escape.

Lesson 4: The containment of fire within each individual flat (commonly known as compartmentation) is absolutely crucial. A breach in the party or external walls of flats, often caused by installing television wiring, gas piping, electric wiring, plumbing or other works, creates a conduit for fire.

Lesson 5: In-depth fire inspections should happen every year in every block, using qualified inspectors, checking walls, doors, equipment, cupboards, shelves, etc. to ensure there are no breaches of fire safety or containment.

Lesson 6: Knowing who lives in all the flats within a block, including leasehold properties, private lettings, and subletting with the right to enter, inspect and enforce where there is a potential hazard affecting the block, is essential to exercising control over conditions and safety. Leasehold agreements should specify the obligation to provide access keys in case of leaks, fire, or breaches of containment.

Lesson 7: On-site management and supervision maintains basic conditions and is essential for security. The landlord can then enforce a basic standard, both in the stairwells and within units. The proximity of neighbours makes enforcement of tenancy conditions vital.

Lesson 8: The maintenance of multi-storey blocks is an engineering challenge where precision and quality control are essential. Judith Hackitt’s Interim Review of Building Regulations recommends higher standards, stronger enforcement, and far greater professionalism in designing, delivering, and running complex multi-storey buildings.

Lesson 9: There should be no shortcutting on cost and quality as short term savings can lead of long-term costs, as Grenfell Tower shows.

Lesson 10: Tenants are entitled to have a voice in the safety, maintenance, and general condition of their blocks. They often know more than staff about who lives in blocks and about earlier works as they have often been around longer than housing staff. They know what changes have been made. They are valuable conduits for vital information, and can thus help their landlords and their community.