Is RICS new EWS1 guidance working?

skippymcskipperson

I had tried with Barclays who are insisting on an EWS1 form so planning to try Nationwide after reading this round up of lenders responses to the new guidance.

mortgageintroducer.com/live-lenders-reveal-standpoint-cladding-guidance/

SliAbhaile

However my concern is the building potentially has cavity wall insulation 

Page 3 of the RICS guidance says "traditional cavity wall is excluded".
However that probably doesn't help as most lenders seem to be insisting on an EWS1 for all flats regardless of construction.

SliAbhaile

I've only started looking into the EWS1 question in the last week because one of my neighbours has been refused the re-mortgage he needs.

My understanding is recent changes to RICS and the lenders' criteria has expanded the net from blocks above 18 metres to include all blocks of flats; with a bit of belt-and-braces interpretation by lenders thrown in. There are only 291 fire inspectors in the country. Some are saying that equates to 10,000 properties per inspector. There is also a massive backlog in laboratory testing capacity. Some property companies are saying it will take 10 years to survey their full portfolio.

That either means all flats in the country are now worthless for the next 10 years, or worth whatever cash buyers can afford, or something gives.

I suspect what will give pretty quickly is the 291 fire inspectors will lose their monopoly and any RICS registered surveyor will be allowed issue an EWS1 form. Then the bottleneck will be the testing facilities.

Crashy_Time

Who pays for it all though?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/29/leaseholders-horrified-after-final-vote-on-10bn-fire-safety-costs

marvellouspotato

SliAbhaile said:

However my concern is the building potentially has cavity wall insulation 

Page 3 of the RICS guidance says "traditional cavity wall is excluded".
However that probably doesn't help as most lenders seem to be insisting on an EWS1 for all flats regardless of construction.

Yep, that's the issue - criteria for EWS1 form requirement in some lenders eyes appears to be simply 'is it a flat/apartment? If, yes, it needs an EWS1'.

PebblesLife

Hi,
I'm currently buying a flat (four storey purpose built flat built circa 2013) and a copy of the facade report has come through and the assessor has put the following comment:
"The cavities were generally filled with mineral wool insulation with a breather membrane/vapour barrier but no thermal break layer. At compartment floor/wall section there were no cavity barriers identified."

Is this a good or bad thing? I'm completely clueless to it all so any advice would be helpful please!
Thanks.

Crashy_Time

marvellouspotato said:

SliAbhaile said:

However my concern is the building potentially has cavity wall insulation 

Page 3 of the RICS guidance says "traditional cavity wall is excluded".
However that probably doesn't help as most lenders seem to be insisting on an EWS1 for all flats regardless of construction.

Yep, that's the issue - criteria for EWS1 form requirement in some lenders eyes appears to be simply 'is it a flat/apartment? If, yes, it needs an EWS1'.

Just too risky now for lenders not to have this?

jimbow25

PebblesLife said:

Hi,
I'm currently buying a flat (four storey purpose built flat built circa 2013) and a copy of the facade report has come through and the assessor has put the following comment:
"The cavities were generally filled with mineral wool insulation with a breather membrane/vapour barrier but no thermal break layer. At compartment floor/wall section there were no cavity barriers identified."

Is this a good or bad thing? I'm completely clueless to it all so any advice would be helpful please!
Thanks.

I'm not an expert but i believe in this situation "barrier = good" because the right type of barrier prevents the spread of fire.
The underlined words would therefore be bad. Whether this is overall good or bad as a risk assessment is not something I could tell you. In the first instance your mortgage company will have its own views. if they are happy then it is probably not high risk, but your solicitor may be able to help you understand the risks.

Crashy_Time

Good advice.

NameUnavailable

I've been reading up on the latest guidance and there was a piece about it on Radio 4 last Saturday. Still seems that the reality is surveyors and lenders are passing the buck between them as to who is responsible for requesting EWS sign off.

I'm offering on a brick built (late 60's) flat in a 3/4 storey block, no cladding, no balconies. It should be totally exempt from requirement for EWS1. If it's not I will pull out regardless.