'If they don't cover all the things that are wrong with these buildings, we'll end up with half fixed buildings'
Yesterday, the housing secretary promised leaseholders in buildings 11-18 metres high that developers will pay to fix the cladding
Yesterday, the housing secretary announced that leaseholders in lower-rise buildings will be spared the costs of paying to fix dangerous cladding.
Michael Gove announced that leaseholders in buildings 11 to 18 metres in height will no longer have to contribute to replacing cladding.
However, there will be no new public money going towards the costs of making such buildings safe.
Instead, Mr Gove's department will attempt to make property developers pay the estimated £4bn cost, including potentially through the threat of increased taxes or legal action
"You can't make a building half safe, by fixing the external cladding, you've got to fix all of the problems."
Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central said:
"Things like missing fire breaks, flammable insulation in use in the middle of buildings, how is that going to be dealt with?
"You can't make a building half safe, by fixing the external cladding, you've got to fix all of the problems.
"How can my constituents, long suffering, flats worthless, paying waking watch, higher insurance bills, how can they have any confidence this is going to be sorted out soon?
"Even if a plan is agreed to deal with all the defects on a building, this is all going to take time, and in the meantime, those costs that leaseholders can't afford, will continue to confront them.
"So, it's a step in the right direction, but it's not yet an answer to the problem."
We spoke to a woman from Leeds, whose building is more than 18 metres in height, she said:
"We're already paying for waking watch, we've paid for new fire alarms, it's not an end game, it's already costing leaseholders a disproportionate amount of money.
"This is a step in the right direction, so fingers crossed there is an announcement soon for us.
"Waiting until March, doesn't seem that long, but after being in this situation several years already, what it actually means is it's just another couple of months of costs."
Rachael Loftus lives in a 7 storey building in Leeds, which has timber cladding, problems with the compartmentation breaks and is built from another material- which shouldn't be used on high rise buildings.
She said:
"It's hard to tell if it will have a positive impact on a building like mine, where half the issues are cladding and half are other fire safety defects, so that's something we are still very keen to hear.
"They're still talking about just cladding and not other fire safety defects, so in the end, if they don't cover all the things that are wrong with these buildings, we'll end up with half fixed buildings.
"The great unknown for me, is how much this is going to cost me. It's been £15,000 already in waking watch, increased insurance and it's been two years of virtually non-stop worry.
"What they didn't do, is make any protection for me legally to not have to face those bills, and at the moment their plan is just to ask developers to pay, but I don't know what will happen if they don't pay and technically and legally that bill remains in my name."