At Grenfell the London Fire Brigade told residents to stay in their flats rather than try to escape. As Sir Martin Moore-Bick wrote in the report of the inquiry's first phase: “The evidence taken as a whole strongly suggests that the 'stay put' concept had become an article of faith within the LFB so powerful that to depart from it was to all intents and purposes unthinkable.”

His report concluded that “more lives could have been saved” if the “stay put” advice had been jettisoned earlier.

Fear of a fire is not the couple’s only anxiety. Like many leaseholders in high-rises, they face the question, who is going to pay to make the buildings safe?

The City Gate development, Manchester The City Gate development, Manchester

City Gate was developed by Bellway, the UK's fourth biggest housebuilder - a FTSE 250 company. One might assume that this company would be liable for any outstanding issues. But one would be wrong. The law states that developers are no longer liable six or 10 years (depending on legal complexities) after a building is completed.

“Buildings stay up in places for hundreds of years. You can't have a warranty that lasts 10 years,” Hughson says. “It's not a valid reason, it's like a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

While he and his partner hold Bellway responsible, they think the government should be doing more to help them.

Theresa May's government last year announced it would compensate private high-rise buildings where the cladding is aluminium composite material (ACM), as Grenfell's was.

However, like hundreds of blocks around the UK, most of the City Gate cladding is non-ACM, made up of timber and other materials. In short, government money won't help the residents. To fix the cladding and cavities will cost an estimated £8.2m. If the steelwork has to be redone as well, the final sum could be much higher.

The managing agent for the building is a firm called Rendall & Rittner. Like companies across the country, it is passing the costs of the building work and interim safety measures to leaseholders like Leitch and Hughson through their service charge. Currently £120 a month, it is expected to rise to £550 a month. Then, as the more expensive work comes on track, it will go up more steeply.

“It's about 28 grand a flat over two years,” Hughson says. His parents - who helped him buy the property - have taken over the lease. He and Leitch pay the service charge, but they can't afford it any longer. They have no choice but to find somewhere else to live. In effect they are being forced out of their home.

Bellway told the BBC: “The City Gate buildings were built between 2003 and 2005 and passed all required building regulation checks at the time of completion. Recently, the managing agent has made us aware of some potential issues regarding the site. Bellway takes these issues very seriously and so, at its own cost, has committed to instruct an independent expert to review the situation.”

Manchester City Council is also under the spotlight for giving the building the all clear. “The Council issued a building regulations completion certificate based on the appropriate national government guidance from the time of completion,” a spokesperson says. “However, this is not conclusive evidence of on-going compliance and is not an approval of the quality of work carried out.”

The statement continues: “It was, and remains, the responsibility of the person carrying out the work to comply with building regulations, and it is a matter for the contractor or designers to ensure materials were used and properly installed - and any defects should be rectified by them.”

A spokesperson for Rendall & Rittner said: “All of the cladding installed at City Gate is being replaced, some of which is ACM cladding. Due to the age of the building, the 10-year warranty has expired and the buildings insurance does not cover these defects.”