The government’s recent announcement  that it is to step in and help some 450,000 homeowners trapped by the cladding scandal to sell their homes has descended into farce. The initiative is designed to help those living in towers over 18 metres tall who have been required to produce paperwork proving their homes are safe.

Called EWS1 forms, these have proved difficult to produce as building assessors have struggled to clear the backlog, trapping thousands who could not sell their properties, even if they don’t have any cladding.

On 21 November, the Housing Minister Robert Jenrick said those living in towers without cladding will not have to produce an ESW1 form in order to remortgage or sell their property, claiming it had the backing of RICS, UK Finance and the Building Societies Association.

However, the latter two organisations have now said they had not given permission to put their names to the initiative, which they say ‘does not really solve anything’ and still leaves some 1.9m homeowners in the lurch.