The property industry has reacted with a mix of praise, scepticism and criticism to the government’s plan to ask developers to cover up to £4bn in costs to remove dangerous cladding from lower-height buildings.

Mary-Anne Bowring, group managing director at Ringley, said: “Leaseholders affected by the cladding crisis living in buildings between 11 and 18 meters have long been taken for granted in the government’s approach to fire safety remediation. The announcement today is vindication for thousands facing astronomical costs that come with replacing unsafe cladding.

“Those imprisoned by these costs still face an uphill struggle, as funding will only cover cladding replacement, when new legislation mandates much more substantial changes to meet fire safety compliance, which come at a steep cost.

“We ought to also question how this funding will be secured, the accessibility of grants and the transparency of a system that transfers responsibility from the true culprits, who were largely wound down and disappeared post-Grenfell, to developers more broadly, who face a blanket tax for the failure of a few.”