Combustible vertical balconies and remortgaging

uas109

Hi, 

We are landlords of a 1st floor flat in a 5 storey purpose built block. The flat has wooden vertically connected balconies which means it has an EWS of A3. The rest of the building is brick and non-combustible. We have been trying for two years to borrow more on this and use the extra to pay off our family home mortgage. 
Obviously, the lender has asked for an EWS form in A1 or A2, which we haven't got. 
I have asked for the latest fire risk assessment and asked for a planned schedule of works to remedy the situation. the email I received today gave me the name of the developer and said 'Therefore we are in the lap of gods when it comes to time frames and have to wait and see out the progress with XXXX ###.'

We have about 5 years left on our interest only home mortgage and the plan was to pay this off and use the flat rent to pay that mortgage. (We would still have equity in the flat mortgage after borrowing more). If this is not rectified there is the possibility of losing our home due to being unable to sell the flat.

What would you suggest be the next course of action? Start emailing the developer? 
Could I replace our balcony wood with non-combustible and would this make any difference to a mortgage lender?

Many thanks for your help

silvercar

Replacing your own balcony wood won’t help. A friend was in a similar situation but lived on the ground floor, so had no balcony herself. She still needed the A3 category sorted. She ended up selling to a cash buyer and losing 5% of the market value.

K_S

@uas109 You'll either need to push the developer to get the work done and then an acceptable EWS1 or get it to a stage where the remedial work is planned, costed and accounted for. There are changes afoot in the lending industry to cater for the latter scenario.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6384729/ews1-a3-am-i-likely-to-get-a-mortgage

Based on what the previous government has committed to, and how lenders have responded, I would expect most blocks of flats with cladding issues to have a way forward in a year or two. But I've no idea what all the eligibility requirements will be, whether it'll apply to BTL properties, etc.

uas109

Thanks for the replies, thankfully the managing agent put a name and the developer in their email.
i will begin contacting them Andy the agents, whilst putting some flyers in the other affected flats to see if we can get a group action