EWS1 form alternative?

Lorenzo94

Good morning guys.
I have written about this issue before. Halifax gave me a mortgage offer and they need an EWS1 form before exchange/completion or a certificate of compliance. Residents at the development I am buying gave me a letter written by a Chartered Engineer of  the Institute of Fire Engineers where it states that the buildings within the development comply with Advice Note 14 (both for cladding and attachments i.e. balconies). The letter has been written after the engineer has had access to the building design information.
All the other people in the development did not have any issues when remortgaging, so I really do not understand what Halifax is playing about. 
The letter has been commissioned by Bellway in September 2019. Will this suffice as an alternative to an EWS1 form or not?

[Deleted User]

Rules changed after government consultation in December 2019.  The ews1 form was adopted as being pretty much the only thing lenders will accept now.   I don't see much desire for them to be flexible with recent cases I've done

Lorenzo94

Well then I might just start looking for another property again!

Lorenzo94

Lastly, is there any way I can force the managing agent to produce the EWS1 form? Literally all I need is Bellway to write a statement to confirm that the materials used in the building are the same as the one of the design and the firm I’ve been in touch with will produce the report in about four weeks!

[Deleted User]

The management agent doesn't provide it. A qualified person who has inspected the materials and is insured to an adequate level to sign the form provides it. 

A BBC article throws a cost of £15,000 for this person to do the report and sign the form.  This cost will be paid for by everyone in the building so its not something they can do at a whim.   They will also need to actually find someone who can do it without ripping the whole building apart.

I've been trying to get one through recently and it's been signed by the guy who designed and built the building, sent in the emails from building control confirming they were happy with its installation, and the manufacturer documents showing what is in it.   Got nowhere as the surveyor says the developer doesnt hold appropriate qualifications to sign the form.

Maybe I'm being negative but I see the request for this form as being a dead end at the moment. 

Joey1998

I did a good amount of research on this as I was impacted when trying to purchase a flat. As JMA says it really is hard to see anything tother than a dead end. 
I spoke to someone in that trade and there is 180 people in the country who can sign them, with a 9 month waiting list to even get someone to start looking at it. Noone can even get indemnity insurance to sign them. After that its atleast 10k to get it done (and that assumes no remedial work and the as built drawings are suitable - which in 90 percent of cases they aren't). Should remedial works be required on something below 18m there is no fund to help so leaseholders will pay. 

Unless the government and the lenders change something drastic I was told this is likely to get worse not better in the short term. One thing I had to come to terms with was that regardless of how much I liked the property, the potential of a huge remedial bill should I find a way to purchase it was too much risk. 

To make it worse it doesn't seem that any flats will be void of needing this process sorted. Leaseholders are caught up, managing agents are being naive (either ignorant or purposely) and the government is releasing guidance with seemingly no understanding of the repercussions. I had to do weeks of soul searching and financial expense to come to the conclusion it wasn't worth it, but everyone can do the investigation and see what works for them.

davidmcn

Lorenzo94 said:

Lastly, is there any way I can force the managing agent to produce the EWS1 form?

You're merely a prospective purchaser, so no, you have no relationship with the managing agents and cannot force them to do anything. And you can't force your vendor to do anything either. You can ask nicely.