by: Duncan HughesThe inflammable cladding crisis is a "legal minefield" that threatens to engulf apartment buyers, financiers and developers in a sector already threatened by over-supply and falling demand, according to industry specialists.Off-the-plan apartment buyers could be among the first to be hit as wary lenders reconsider whether to make a final loan offer because of uncertainty about whether insurers will provide cover, advisers warn.Developers could next feel the heat trying to find mandatory owners' corporation cover required for settlement in an increasingly nervous insurance market, according to lawyers.There are also warnings the biggest fire and finance dangers are in mid-size apartment blocks that are mushrooming in the suburbs, particularly around the central business districts of Melbourne and Sydney, which do not require external sprinklers.

"There are a minefield of issues that arise from developer finance and purchases," warns Lisa Cody, a partner and property specialist for lawyers' Holding Redlich.

"If there is any settlement risk then developers' financiers will get very nervous," Ms Cody warns.To read the entire article please visit here (membership may be required).