Empty post-Grenfell promises have left leaseholders stuck in flammable flats | Letters

Freeholders and developers shirk any financial responsibility, writes Lynne Hamshaw

While I agree with Owen Jones's view on the appalling revelations in the Grenfell Tower inquiry (The Grenfell Tower disaster is political. Look at the evidence of the fire test fraud', 19 November), he misses one key point. Tens of thousands of mostly young leaseholders are stuck in flammable buildings right now, having saved up to buy a flat in order to get on the first rung of the housing ladder. There are thousands of these buildings around the country, with flammable cladding, flammable insulation and other major safety defects, all being revealed in the aftermath of Grenfell.

Freeholders and developers shirk any financial responsibility, so it is leaseholders who are now paying for extortionate interim fire safety measures and a fivefold increase in buildings insurance, on top of their mortgages. Their flats are worth zero.