I don’t think it’s really the cladding itself that’s the problem. The various cladding pieces aren’t actually connected so they couldn’t really transmit a fire around fire breaks.

The problem is that insurance companies and banks will flat out refuse loans if there’s so much as a square centimetre of that material on the building. I actually wanted to buy one of the flats, but I couldn’t because I couldn’t get a mortgage. Every bank I went to point blank refused to even give me a number.

So I suspect a lot of people are stuck, they can’t sell because they would have to sell to somebody who could pay in cash, and people with who could afford to pay in cash aren’t buying flats. I think the flat I wanted to buy has now been rented out on airbnb, which normally I would have a problem with as it prevents locals from being able to buy properties, but since this property can’t be purchased anyway I guess it’s okay.

What needs to happen is the government need to force building management companies to remove the cladding.