EWS1 - preventing sale of my flat

Trigger79

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of selling my flat. It is less than 18m high and so has no EWS form, and The leaseholder has Written a letter stating this and stating that it no plans to get one. It also has no cladding.

The buyer’s mortgage company are insisting on one anyway and so we’re in stalemate.

I’m guessing there’s nothing much I can do, as things are in the buyer’s court - but this has now been going on for ages and I’m wondering at what point I need to move on and start looking for another buyer. 

If I was them I would be looking for another mortgage company but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of action on that side and all this time I am just twiddling my thumbs. 

Any advice would be gratefully received! 

Trigger

Rjj2020

Sorry to hear this. I have just posted our situation on another thread which is similar with our buyers lender requesting these forms for low rise buildings as well.
I too wanted to ask our buyer to explore other lenders but found it difficult to know everyone’s criteria without going through the whole application process each time. If you have no cladding at all though there must be a lender out there you would think? 

In terms of getting a form, if your freeholder is hasn’t even commissioned surveys yet that will be a very long process. 

annetheman

Trigger79 said:

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of selling my flat. It is less than 18m high and so has no EWS form, and The leaseholder has Written a letter stating this and stating that it no plans to get one. It also has no cladding.

The buyer’s mortgage company are insisting on one anyway and so we’re in stalemate.

I’m guessing there’s nothing much I can do, as things are in the buyer’s court - but this has now been going on for ages and I’m wondering at what point I need to move on and start looking for another buyer. 

If I was them I would be looking for another mortgage company but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of action on that side and all this time I am just twiddling my thumbs. 

Any advice would be gratefully received! 

Trigger

My experience as a buyer, memorandum of sale issued March 6th 2020:
-Building under 18m
-Brick clad (as I suspect yours is, all modern residential blocks have some sort of external wall cladding, there are virtually none with 'no cladding', just non-combustible i.e. brick or glass or stone or cement etc).
-Lender 1: approved mortgage pending updated £0 valuation with EWS1 May 2020
-Head leaseholder (seller) instructed EWS1 survey, since all other sales also blocked due to lack of it
-EWS1 performed August 2020
-Lender 1: tired of waiitng, cancelled app November 2020
-Received EWS1 at B1 due to timber decking on balconies December 2020
-Lender 2: approved mortgage pending satisfactory valuation with EWS1 January 2021
-Sent EWS1 to Lender 2
-Mortgage offer approved January 2021
Now looking to exchange and complete March 2021

Not unique buying experience, nor is yours a unique selling experience sadly: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/08/homeowners-face-sales-falling-through-and-zero-valuations-due-to-fire-safety-test-delays/

It's the reason flat sales have halved nationwide, -70%+ in some places, like London and Manchester.

RICS have consulted recently on updating the EWS1 to take some buildings out of scope but as you know, currently your (and my) buildings are out of scope yet lenders still want them - nobody has faith in either modern construction firms nor the building compliance certificates they were issued with. They want a qualified expert to dig into the walls and find out exactly what the external wall system actually contains.

Grenfell enquiry tells them all they need to know about what the certificates say they contain: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/19/what-has-the-grenfell-inquiry-revealed-about-building-materials

Your buyer is probably very aware they will still be asked for it from another lender. Unless you can get your head leasee/freeholder to instruct EWS1 pronto, so will your next buyer, and the next and the next lender and the next.

Also considering from the buyers perspective, given all the above, why the heck would they want to proceed to buy something that has not been ocnfirmed to be compliant with building safety regulations through an intrusive EWS1 survey?

If your building is rated A3 or B2, they will then have the £100,000+ bill for remediation, interim waking watch, interim fire alarms, increased 1000%+ insurance premiums -- all that would shift from being your problem to their problem.

There isn't a buyer in their right mind that will buy any flat  in a purpose-build block without an EWS1. Even cash buyers are saying no.

You NEED to convince the freeholder to instruct the survey, or you are going nowhere like millions of others trapped. It is a horrendous scandal but here we are.... You can follow my thread for semi-regular updates https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6217523/govt-makes-haphazard-attempt-to-alleviate-some-of-the-blockages-in-flat-sales-mess-caused-by-ews1#latest

[Deleted User]

Things arent really in your buyers court.  Things are in your court with how hard you press the freeholder.  Your buyer will have this issue with pretty much every mortgage company so no point in them going to another one as they will just be right back in the same place in another months time

Trigger79

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the responses, that's all very clear. 

The thing I don't understand is that when I've spoken to my solicitor about this, and my estate agent, they're saying that most flat sales have been going through fine even without EWSs, it's just pot luck as to whether the mortgage company is one that insists on it. 

Yet whenever I look here or on any forum, the narrative seems to be "if you don't have an EWS you have no chance". 

Even if I did put pressure on the freeholder, I understand there's like a six month waiting list at the moment even to get an EWS if they decided to do it. 

Still none the wiser about what to do, I guess I'll just have to give them a chance to try another few lenders. I'm lucky that I don't absolutely have to sell it (it is rented out at the moment), I just was keen to but it may be a good idea to hold on to it until there's more clarity. I just wish I'd known this before I started. 

Again, I really appreciate the advice, thank you all. 

coypondboy

Hi Folks, please do not buy a flat at the moment until the fire safety legislation currently going through parliament has been resolved as they are trying to take out a clause where the leaseholder will be on hook for any costs should the block of flats fail the new rules.  please look at the EndOurCladdingScandal TWITTER account o stay informed as to latest developments also big campaigns in daily mail, telegraph and times 

fizzgog

coypondboy said:

Hi Folks, please do not buy a flat at the moment until the fire safety legislation currently going through parliament has been resolved as they are trying to take out a clause where the leaseholder will be on hook for any costs should the block of flats fail the new rules.  please look at the EndOurCladdingScandal TWITTER account o stay informed as to latest developments also big campaigns in daily mail, telegraph and times 

Totally wrong information , I'm selling a flat and as the OP, its less than 18m high with no cladding. This is the type of propaganda thats damaging sales of apartments. Yes, there are ones being identified but not all are dangerous. Ive been following this myself ever since the Grenfell disaster.

coypondboy

Good luck hope you sell I am looking to downsize to a flat but holding off to see what happens over the next couple of years and if lots of flats hit the market as unsellable won't be good for prices think the government will have to step in with further help.

fizzgog

coypondboy said:

Good luck hope you sell I am looking to downsize to a flat but holding off to see what happens over the next couple of years and if lots of flats hit the market as unsellable won't be good for prices think the government will have to step in with further help.

Cheers ... they are sorting things out , even regarding buying the freehold  cheaper than it is at the moment which will result in zero ground rent. I think individuals in apartment blocks can buy freehold, as at the moment, it has to be a minimum of 50% of the owners/leaseholders.

annetheman

Trigger79 said:

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the responses, that's all very clear. 

The thing I don't understand is that when I've spoken to my solicitor about this, and my estate agent, they're saying that most flat sales have been going through fine even without EWSs, it's just pot luck as to whether the mortgage company is one that insists on it. 

Yet whenever I look here or on any forum, the narrative seems to be "if you don't have an EWS you have no chance". 

Sorry you're one of millions stuck! Most only find out when they try to remortgage, sell or buy. But they WILL find out. Oh boy.

Think about it this way - your own experience, buyers' and sellers' on this forum's experiences, twitter, etc. These are the actual people living the experience, what have they got to gain by telling you to try to sell anyway?

Whereas a solicitor and an estate agent want you to try because.... £business is business. Whether you complete or not.

If you want further proof, just look at what has happened to flat sales since Advice Note 14 in Jan 2020. More than halved. Down 74% in cities. When house sales are booming, you can guarantee it's not all COVID. Someone who could only afford a London flat isn't suddenly buying a London house instead because of COVID.

Good luck! Join the fight for justice for all those poor leaseholders stuck in B2 or EWS1 limbo, if you can!

firsttimesellerldn

I’m in the process of selling a flat in a 19m block at the moment and facing similar issues. The building is solid brick clad with no other cladding or balconies - we don’t have an ews1 and no plans to obtain one. We’re resident managed so I could push for one but why should residents agree to pay when we shouldn’t need one? Others are in the process of selling and their buyers lenders haven’t asked for one. I lost a previous buyer for unrelated reasons and their lender didn’t want one. However my current buyers lender is asking for one but won’t justify why. I’ve asked my buyer to consider changing lenders. If they don’t I plan to go back on the market. I know that theoretically if you look under the bonnet in any building there could be problems, but lenders should be taking a sensible risk based approach rather than demanding every single block of flats is examined in forensic detail costing leaseholders thousands.