Owners of flats in buildings without cladding no longer require an EWS1 form
The Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government announced yesterday that leaseholders of flats in buildings without cladding will no longer be required to obtain a EWS1 form before they sell or re-mortgage their property, ending a period in which leaseholders of flats in such buildings were held in limbo and many were unable to sell or re-mortgage their properties.
This decision has been reached after an agreement between government, RICS, the Building Societies Association and UK Finance.
Almost 450,000 leaseholders of flats in buildings without cladding but over 18m tall stuck in a legal limbo for many many months are now able to sell or re-mortgage their properties.
Separately the government has announced almost £700,000.00 in funding to train more assessors capable of preparing EWS1 forms, in an attempt to speed up what is a cumbersome and expensive process. It is hoped that this RICS training will result in some 200 additional assessors qualified to carry out the EWS1 examination within a month, 900 within three months and 2,000 within six months.