Spectrum Building leaseholders awaiting payouts after freeholder, Arinium, went bankrupt shortly after 2024 blaze

Sarah Williams vividly remembers the night in 2016 when she camped overnight in a car park to put down a deposit on a flat in the newly completed Spectrum Building in Dagenham, east London.

“People started queuing for those flats 24 hours before they went on sale,” she said. “It was basically the only flat I could afford in London. This was a year before Grenfell, and the flats market in London was completely crazy.”

Official assessing formal complaint into Green party leader’s potential ‘breach of conduct’ as assembly member

London assembly officials are weighing up whether to launch an investigation into Zack Polanski after he admitted he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat in the capital.

The Green party leader has faced questions over whether the houseboat, moored in east London, was his primary residence. A spokesperson for his party had described the situation as an “unintentional mistake” and said Polanski had “immediately taken steps” to pay any tax owed.

The capital’s hospitality industry and cultural sector is vital but ensuring democratic consent is necessary for its expansion – and survival

Sir Sadiq Khan’s musical tastes tend toward soft rock and pop. But throughout his tenure as mayor of London he has positioned himself as a friend to its ravers, rockers and late-night revellers with his oft-relaunched vision of a culturally and economically vibrant “24‑hour city”. Those ambitions have fallen short of their promise, as London, like the rest of the country, has seen a steady erosion of pubs, bars and clubs.

There is reason to believe that the latest attempt – centred on a new nightlife commission announced last week by the mayor, and based on recommendations from a report endorsed by his office – will be different. The report’s authors include representatives of successful grassroots projects, rather than just industry figures associated with festivals and superclubs. It is unusually alive to local concerns. The debate is not really economic or cultural but political: who controls shared local space? Without councils and residents on side, the plan goes nowhere.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.