EWS1 Forms no longer required for buildings without cladding

11th January 2021

Block Management has seen a change in direction, as it has recently been announced that leaseholders of apartments in buildings without cladding will no longer require an EWS1 form to sell or re-mortgage their property.

This agreement has been made between the Government, RICS and BSA in a wider effort to support homeowners who have unsafe cladding on their buildings and how to remove some red tape with those without cladding. This allows people to focus on the developments that require remediation.

The EWS1 form has been designed to assess the potential financial impact of cladding on high-rise flats, which includes an external wall fire review process and we answered some FAQs on the EWS1 form here. 

This change in direction will mean that over 450,000 apartment owners will be able to sell and remortgage their homes, without having to wait for and EWS1 form to be completed. 

RICS will be working with lenders, valuers and fire safety bodies to help develop new advice for surveyors, which will ultimately result in the pressure being lifted from surveyors as they can focus on a reduced number of buildings where an EWS1 form is required.

In addition, the government has granted £700,000 to train surveyors, which will help speed up the process of getting an EWS1 form to homeowners that need one to sell or remortgage. This training will mean that an additional 2,000 surveyors will be available within six months.

The issue around professional indemnity insurance is also being looked into by the government, in which they are looking at ways of making this insurance more affordable for developments

We are currently working with the blocks we manage to determine whether an EWS1 is required and assisting wherever possible to ensure a survey and any remediation works are carried out. If you would like to discuss your block management requirements with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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