Professionals from all areas of the industry – from lenders and brokers to surveyors and others involved in property – have either expressed a lack of confidence or uncertainty in the government’s ability to resolve the problem.

The poll was taken during a webinar run by the surveying firm in which 256 professionals voted following a panel debate on cladding.

They responded to the question: ‘How much faith do you have in the government (north and south of the border) to resolve the cladding issue within the next two years?’

The attendees voted with 50% saying they were ‘not confident’, 34% were ‘unsure’, 15% suggested that they were ‘somewhat confident’ whilst only 1% opted for the ‘very confident’ option.

The government recently pledged £3.5 billion of funding for remedial work on buildings of up to 18 metres. This took the total available from the government to replace unsafe cladding up to £5 billion.

However there have been concerns by lenders and others this will not go far enough to resolve the issue.

Matthew Cumber, managing director of Countrywide Surveying Services, said: “Cladding is an issue which has generated huge amounts of column inches and concern across the industry.

“As one of the largest surveyor workforces in the UK, we have a duty to raise awareness and help educate property professionals on all aspects of residential property valuations.

“This is an area which needs immediate action and clarity. I understand the concerns of industry professionals when it comes to the resolution of cladding-related issues and it demonstrates how a joined-up, responsible and comprehensive approach is urgently needed from the government, backed by all links in the property chain.”

Over 500 people registered for the webinar with 350 actively engaging with the session.

The panel included representatives from a number of major lenders and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) who joined John Baguley and Matthew Cumber from Countrywide.

Baguley, director of technical, risk and compliance at Countrywide Surveying Services, added: “We always knew that cladding would be a hot topic for our first webinar, but who knew it would be this popular.

“A big thanks to our fellow panellists and I sincerely hope that between us, the lending community and RICS we can remove the 18ft ruling so that no matter the type or size of property, they can all be assessed fairly and those that require remedial work are treated equally.”