New guidance has been released aimed at reducing the number of wall safety surveys being requested by banks and building societies on blocks of flats. Thousands of flat owners have been unable to sell or re-mortgage because they cannot get the checks done. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said it would help lenders save time when the inspections were not needed. Most lenders are likely to follow the advice but there is no guarantee. To begin with, only those who owned flats in tall buildings with dangerous flammable cladding were affected. However, after the government extended its advice to smaller properties in January 2020, mortgage lenders began demanding fire surveys from a much wider range of sellers. Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders have since been asked for EWS1 external wall safety forms when they sell or re-mortgage. This requires a specialist survey – but there have not been enough qualified surveyors to do the checks, leaving thousands of owners “in limbo”, according to the government. Some owners have also reported being asked for EWS1s when there appears to be little or no flammable materials attached to their building. RICS said its new guidance would clarify types of properties which will, and will not, require additional inspections to speed up mortgage approvals. The guidance is anticipated to result in a reduction in the number of EWS1 requests which will therefore allow more focus on the assessments of higher risk buildings, which should speed up the overall process whilst ensuring appropriate protection for lenders and purchasers.

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