Post-Grenfell fire safety: leaseholders risk being fleeced, warns top adviser

Exclusive: Dame Judith Hackitt urges people to challenge huge bills by insisting on second opinion

Leaseholders risk being fleeced" by profiteering landlords and builders in the post-Grenfell fire safety crisis, a senior government adviser has warned in comments likely to increase pressure on ministers to finally resolve the problem.

More than four years after the disaster that claimed 72 lives, tens of thousands of leaseholders are being landed with crippling remediation bills exceeding 200,000 per household in the worst cases. But Dame Judith Hackitt is urging homeowners to challenge the demands by insisting on a second opinion, warning profiteering" means we are making lives worse than need be".