Almost two months on, most of its surviving residents still wait for the permanent new homes they were promised; the traumas and tragedies of that June night remain real. But across the capital, if not the country, Grenfell Tower now means more even than that vast conflagration in which more than 80 people died. Its charred hulk has become a cypher for all the ills that afflict London.

From the sharp wealth divide to the neglect of social housing; to the unaffordability for many of a decent home; to the safe haven it provides for dubiously acquired, often foreign, money; to the “light touch” regulation which clearly contaminated building safety as well as banking; to the greed, if not actual corruption, behind planning decisions; it is hard to find much to like in the way London has developed in the past 20 years. At a time when so many other big European cities have regulated and invested for quality of life, London exemplifies in so many respects the very opposite.

The latest chapter of the Grenfell Tower inquest, as it is being conducted at popular level, concerns the scandal of empty accommodation, including in the very same borough as the estate that included Grenfell Tower. Jeremy Corbyn’s call for such housing to be requisitioned for the benefit of former Grenfell residents might have been widely ridiculed as an echo of failed communism, but it struck a chord. What is more, it seems to have shamed the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) into buying up a whole block of flats that was nearing completion to house some of the Grenfell homeless.

This move alone should demonstrate that there are things that can be done to provide more relatively low-cost housing in London, but it all depends on whether central and local government want to find remedies, which – even after Grenfell Tower – is by no means evident. And while empty housing is an obvious place to start, it has different layers that need to be tackled in different ways.

In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Show all 51 1 /51 In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police have released images from inside the tower where at least 58 people have died Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by polices what appears to be a stationary bicycle sitting among the ashes In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A still from a video shared by police shows the remnants of a burnt-out bathroom In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Picture showing the lifts on an unknown floor Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency crews outside the front entrance to the tower Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Fire crews inspecting flats in the burnt out tower London Metropolitan Police In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Grenfell Tower is seen in the distance PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A drone flies near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire 'Theresa May Stay Away' message written on the messages of support at Latymer Community Church for those affected by the fire Ray Tang/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire An aerial view of the area surrounding Grenfall tower Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Donated shoes sit in the Westway Sports Centre near to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of support for those affected by the massive fire in Grenfell Tower are displayed on a well near the tower in London AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A local resident stands on her balcony by the gutted Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Messages of condolence are left at a relief centre close to the scene of the fire that broke out at Grenfell Tower, EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A police officer stands by a security cordon outside Latimer Road station Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firemen examine the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London on a huge ladder AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A search dog is led through the rubble of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comforts a local resident (name not given) at St Clement's Church in west London where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hugs councillor Mushtaq Lasharie as he arrives at St Clement's Church in Latimer Road, where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meeting staff and volunteers at St Clementís Church in Latimer Road David Mirzoeff/PA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Firefighters with a dog walk around the base of the Grenfell Tower REUTERS/Peter Nicholls In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emotions run high as people attend a candle lit vigil outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Debris hangs from the blackened exterior of Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman speaks to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman holds a missing person posters near the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Sadiq Khan speaking with a resident James Gourley/REX In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Ken Livingstone walks near the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is confronted by Kai Ramos, 7, near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks to a woman outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Yui Mok/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers distribute aid near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People gather to observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People light candles as they observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man distributes food from the back of a van near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A firefighter is cheered near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A T-shirt with a written message from the London Fire Brigade hangs from a fence near The Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A young girl on her way to lay flowers near Grenfell Tower Getty Images In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire The remains of residential tower block Grenfell Tower are seen from Dixon House a nearby tower block Getty In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers prepare supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block which was destroyed in a fire REUTERS/Neil Hall In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Volunteers move a car to make space for a lorry picking up supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire People distribute boxes of food near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower bloc REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A woman touches a missing poster for 12-year-old Jessica Urbano on a tribute wall after laying flowers on the side of Latymer Community Church next to the fire-gutted Grenfell Tower AP In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire A man looks at messages written on a wall near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block REUTERS/Paul Hackett In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Candles and messages of condolence near where the fire broke out at Grenfell Tower EPA In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry a stretcher towards Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Emergency services at Grenfell Tower Rick Findler/PA Wire In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire Police carry out a body from Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building Rick Findler/PA Wire

Let’s start at the “oligarch” end of the scale. Thanks to a document released, apparently in error, by RBKC, details of some unused homes in the borough and who owns them are now public (although not all the information was accurate). The vacant properties include some awaiting, or in the process of, redevelopment – including the site of a disused tube station which has remained derelict since its purchase by the Ukrainian oligarch, Dmytro Firtash, who is in Switzerland fighting extradition to the US. There is also a completely empty mansion block, which – according to the owners, the Candy brothers (of the hideous and largely unoccupied One Hyde Park fame) – awaits planning permission for redevelopment.

Last year, as it happens, some of the same buildings were included in a series of coach trips – “Kleptocracy Tours” – organised by a Russian expatriate, Roman Borisovich, to expose London as a destination for questionable foreign money. But the vacant mansions and penthouses of oligarchs and their ilk are never likely to be freed up for social housing. The problem here is less that so many stand empty than that their owners were allowed to buy them in the first place.

It is all very well proclaiming that London is “open for business”, but should we not be more fussy about the sort of business? There is a mass of money-laundering and anti-corruption legislation, but how much of it is actually used to identify or confiscate ill-gotten gains, or the lawyers and financiers right here who facilitate the multi-million pound purchases? Other cities and countries seem better at deterring, if not detecting, dirty money. Some restrict property ownership to citizens. Some impose swingeing charges on unused premises. London and the UK could do, too.

London could do more to manage other parts of the market, too. From the kitchen of our flat, we can see the ribbon of new high-rises that have sprung up over the past 10 years along the south bank of the Thames. How, you wonder, when all this is complete, could London possibly have a housing shortage? But, of course, it is the “wrong” sort of housing. If, as is not impossible, London has built itself a glut of million-pound two-bed flats, what then?

Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street Show all 10 1 /10 Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street Inside a flat at 375 Kensington High Street - Located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street The 68 flats are being acquired by the City of London Corporation as part of the response to the tragedy berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street The luxury flats are located just a couple of miles from Grenfell Tower berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street The families will be offered permanent homes in the building berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street Penthouses in the block can go for up to £13m berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street A spokesman for the Berkeley Group confirmed they were finalising plans berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street The property boasts a gym, swimming pool and 24-hour concierge service harrodsestates.com Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street The families will live in the award winning £2bn development berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street Families whose lives were devastated by the fire at Grenfell Tower are to be housed in a luxury development berkeleygroup.co.uk Grenfell Tower survivors to be housed in 375 Kensington High Street 68 families are to be rehomed in the block berkeleygroup.co.uk

Do prices fall to the point where these flats are “affordable”? If so, do those largely foreign investors with multiple “units” take fright? Could more “Londoners” decide to buy them? Might some of the blocks be bought up for social housing? There is no reason why much of this land should not have been redeveloped, but many cities elsewhere in the developed world would have kept a far tighter rein on developers, in terms of purpose and design. Will London ever be prepared to do the same?

As for those sky-high prices, they are not just a reflection of shortage. Successive governments may have paid lip service to “the market”, even as they rigged it in so many ways. “Right to buy” without “duty to replace” depleted the social housing sector, and has now been absurdly extended to housing associations. Initially restricted to long-time residents, discounts soon applied to tenants of barely two years’ standing, making the allocation of a council flat in a high-price area even more of a bonanza than it already was.

“Buy to let”, designed to remedy a real shortage of rental housing, has grown into an under-taxed monster which distorts the lower end of the market. Only now are big investors starting to emulate the US and continental model of long-term, professionally managed, in-town blocks. Why were the tax breaks not directed towards this sort of development? Was a patchwork of amateur landlords really a better solution?

Reasonable grounds to suspect corporate manslaughter, say Grenfell Tower police

And now, just as a saturated London market might finally be pushing prices down, there is a combination of “help to buy” schemes and ultra-low mortgage rates – both, in the end, political decisions – which seems calculated to push prices higher. It does not have to be like this. But so long as it is, any penalty for leaving property vacant will be offset by the expected capital gain.