Flats in tower blocks that required EWS1 building safety forms rose 8% to 43,000 mortgage valuations in the three months to June, according to official data. But valuations demanded by lenders rose dramatically among taller buildings.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities points out that this data from six major lenders, means that one in ten flats required an EWS1 form, overall.
However, the department says that the “height [of a block] is a key factor in whether an EWS1 form or equivalent is required”.
It says that 62% of mortgage valuations for flats in buildings seven storeys and above required an EWS1 form in the three months to June, a 53% rise on the prior quarter.
The department says this data is drawn from 30,000 mortgage valuations from four major lenders who provided height breakdown information.
It adds that flats in mid-rise buildings – from five to six storeys — required an EWS1 form in 32% of valuations during the period, a 28% jump on the previous three months.
While flats in the lowest-rise buildings — one to four storeys — required an EWS1 form in 2% of mortgage valuations in the quarter to June, unchanged from the previous three months.
The UK’s flat sale market has been severely curtailed for several years following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people, leading to a fire safety crisis over dangerous cladding.
Uncertainty over the safety of tall blocks made it difficult for borrowers to secure a loan to buy, sell, or remortgage flats impacted by cladding.
It was also unclear whether leaseholders or developers would pick up the tab for repairs that typically mount up to thousands of pounds.
Earlier this month, TSB said it would grant mortgages without an EWS1 form if the flat, or block, has approved government-backed or developer funding for the cladding, or, external wall system repairs.
The department’s data comes after moves by major lenders and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to consider mortgage applications on flats in buildings in England over five storeys (or, 11 metres) from 9 January, when borrowers look to buy, sell, or remortgage flats impacted by cladding.
That move followed the publication of new guidance, from Rics and the government’s Building Safety Act, covering funding to remove or improve cladding on these properties.
Early backers of this move included Barclays Bank, HSBC, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Santander, the Building Societies Association and UK Finance.
The Building Safety Act, passed last April, means that the majority of leaseholders, in England and in buildings at five storeys and over, are protected from cladding remediation costs.
