The Chalcots were evacuated after fire safety flaws were uncovered

• AS Belsize councillors, we are deeply disappointed that Chalcots Estate residents face fresh uncertainty about the future of their homes.

We support the recommendation for Camden Council to return to tender based on what we have been told about the Wates offer (Council cancels £100million deal on evacuation estate and ‘will go back to market’, April 30).

But it is dreadful negotiations have been allowed to reach this unhappy conclusion and an indictment of the council’s handling of the situation.

Works are now unlikely to finish until mid-2023 at the earliest, six years after the cladding was removed.

It is all too easy to blame the contractor, but Camden had been in discussions about the designs for well over a year.

The council ought to have had a clearer idea of what it wanted from the outset and adopted a firm stance in negotiations early on.

The second phase of the inquiry into what has happened since the evacuation must include an examination of Camden’s dealings with contractors.

For the sake of the residents, this aspect of the inquiry should get underway ahead of the second phase of works – to help avoid further disappointments.

CLLRS TOM SIMON & LUISA PORRITT
Liberal Democrat, Belsize ward