EWS1/cladding form stress

[Louise0410]

Any advice - we have an offer accepted on our flat and it’s going to have the lender’s valuation next week. I’ve just found out the some valuations on similar kinds of property are coming back as nil because of a lack of EWS1 form (the form that confirms we don’t have dangerous cladding). Our building is 4 storey’s (in places - we live in a 3 storey part) and is brick (no cladding). Despite this I’ve been warned that our buyer’s mortgage lender can still request the form even though it isn’t really needed. Our managing agent are ok with the idea of getting this form which having read other things online seems not to be the norm so we are lucky in that respect. Anyway, turns out the EWS1 was booked in anyway but this is weeks away and I’m worried our buyer is going to freak out at the delay for getting her mortgage approved. She’s getting a good price on our flat and we have had an offer accepted on a place we really really want so I just feel so stressed that it could all come crashing down over a form that we don’t really need.

@Autumnchill
are you the buyer? Will this delay mean you pull out of the purchase? Has your mortgage provider said that once they have the form you can have the mortgage?

It’s such an infuriating thing to happen - we will get our form early next year but in the meantime I’m just hoping our buyer will wait and not be freaked out by it all.

Good luck to you!

We're the buyer and at the moment it's delaying it. We've only put our house on the market for this one property so if we can't get it then we'll have to pull out.

This isn't the property but this is what it's like, brick with cladding on the windows only and only 4 storey. It's ridiculous!



Sorry picture attached!

@Autumnchill such a pain. Hope that you can sort it. Keeping fingers crossed for both of us!

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-steps-in-to-help-homeowners-caught-up-in-ews1-process

I don't know if this is of any help?

Possibly @Svalberg . It depends if the bits of render on our building is classed as cladding... Hoping the announcement affects us positively!

Fingers crossed

Got all excited then but the one we want does have a small amount of cladding but that's a step in the right direction for sure.

We're still waiting on surveyors report but the owners have sent EA paperwork from 2018 when the first part of cladding was renewed and the email trail at the time discusses Grenfell and they're assured the cladding is A rating whereas Grenfell was E. Fingers crossed this helps.

Same. But I’m basically not expecting anything positive because I’ll only be disappointed if we still need the form. Just going to assume that it’ll take time for this to trickle down to lenders anyway so expecting sales atm not to be that affected.

Fingers crossed for your surveyor report!

@Autumnchill one final question. When your lender came back and said nil valuation did they say that once they get the ews1 the mortgage will be issued? And did they give you a timescale for this happening (I.e you don’t have the reapply completely for the mortgage do you?)

It's the EA that's kept us updated. The surveyor went and discussed with them I suppose in an effort to avoid valuing it at nil. We were asked not to do anything as don't think we're suppose to know yet so waiting on the mortgage company to officially come back to us. Did get an alert today they've done a hard credit search on us so be interested to know if that's been done after the receiving the report or not as it could show progress.

Oh I see. That’s good I guess. I think we might be looking at a nil valuation but hoping that our EAs can reassure the buyer as they know the situation (and we are getting the EWS1 report in about a month - our valuation hasn’t happened yet so just waiting to see if we actually need the form but at least we will have the form either way. I don’t think we’d had a situation where the surveyor would speak with the EA first). I think my biggest concern is just the buyer getting a bit shaken about the offer not being finalised quickly but I suppose in reality nothing to do with selling/buying is that straightforward and at the moment especially there are delays so just hoping our EAs keep him reassured etc.

We all have to get onto our MPs

The cladding situation is an effing nightmare for flat owners.

And even once you get an EWS1 it is only valid for 5 years. Even if you make no modifications whatsoever to the building.

Which feels like a huge money making enterprise for surveyors to me.

Fortunately I"m not looking to move any time soon.

😡😡😡😡

Nationwide won't budge and won't value the property until EWS1 received.

I've sent them photos, cladding certs, building controls officers details (who said we don't need it) but they've said it's their policy on property under 18m. Bunch of....

So looks like we might walk away as no way sellers going to pay for a cert they don't need. I've asked the EA to go back to seller and see if they're prepared to pay our early redemption fees (cheaper than EWS1).

Seriously if you saw the minimal amount of cladding, it's a ridiculous situation to be in for both us and the seller

@Autumnchill did you see the gov statement at the weekend regarding ews1 and cladding?

Minimal cladding under 20% and under 18m shouldn't require ews1 according to them now. Maybe push back to nationwide asking them to view the new guidelines brought in over the weekend?

@Autumnchill

I’m so sorry. What a pain. It’s probably worth speaking to the seller and seeing what happens? Their managing agent might be in the process of getting the form and the seller can’t sell without the form so I imagine they will put pressure on to get it.

Sadly I don’t expect the governments announcement at the weekend to be any benefit because it will take time to come into the Lender’s consideration.

I’ve been told Santander are more in line with the actual advice so aren’t asking for the form necessarily. But not sure if that’s any help for you.

The statement at the weekend has been rejected by the Mortgage Lenders as they say they've not agreed it prior to press release.

Our EA (who is also sellers EA) says he could get us a mortgage without the EWS1 (and I mentioned Santander) but we have £6k early redemption with Nationwide so we've gone to Seller to see if they'll swallow them.

The Management Company is owned by the Leaseholders and our seller sits on the Board and seems pretty clued up. Just got to sit on my hands and wait now as nothing I can do, it's their property. EA is confident he can get a mortgage on it so if we walk away it'll go back on the market and we'll stay put but we've sold ours and our buyers have first time buyers going in and our sellers are moving to relatives so chain is two properties in theory.

Have you joined the National campaigning group UKCAG (Cladding Action Group). Also at Twitter @EOCS_Official
Two petitions to sign and share with others in your block -
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/328201

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/332674

I did sign the petition at the weekend but it's only Nationwide that are insisting on it. Just have to sit and wait and if we walk away I'll spend the fees on a new driveway at our house 😂

So quick update, our sellers have agreed to pay early redemption and we've got the EA sorting out our mortgage and I've suggested Santander which is who they've gone to and had confirmation it's progressing. I'll let you know how we get on. Good news is that because rate is. 1.4, our previous was 2.19 so managing to borrow £15k more over same period and only increasing by £4 a month which means we can get decorators straight in and do what we want to do 😁

As the potential seller of a flat that lenders are requiring an EWS1 form for, our building association are declining to allow us to personally pay for an assessment to be undertaken.

Does anyone know the legalities of the building association not allowing this to go ahead?

We are paying for it ourselves, but need approval from the building.

This seems illegal to me, as surely it is in my right to find out if the building I live in is safe or not (aside from the fact that this will block is from selling).

@Autumnchill fingers crossed for you! Hope that you hear something soon. Obviously keen to know how it turns out for you!

@rb84 it’s an invasive survey so you need permission of the building owner. Plus, if anything if wrong I guess it’s a case of then the costs for that needing to be covered (which are falling to leaseholders). It’s such a ridiculous situation and I really feel for you since not having your management company on board is the big issue for lots of people!

Thanks @louise0410 . We've been trying to clarify the level of 'intrusiveness' of the assessment with the conveyancer and they have assured us and the building association that it will not be (and no damage will be made).

The part I am still unclear on is, in the worse case that there is work required following the report, is this simply 'advised work' or does it suddenly become legally required?

Surely either way, vaulting this assessment is a breach of mine and my family's safety ?

I understand that the building society are not obliged to instruct and pay for the assessment themselves, but it does feel a bit underhand to block one.

The form comes back as either A1, A2, A3 B1, B2. If you search online you can see an example of the form and what these categories mean. The upshot is banks wont lend unless it is A1, A2 or B1. Anything else and it is unmortgageable until the safety is improved. The form started as a requirement for buildings over 18 metres but a change in a building safety bill meant its been used by most lenders for almost all flats in blocks. There was a press release last weekend saying that the forms wouldn’t be asked for on buildings without cladding, but essentially lenders aren’t really following that new guidance and I think most will argue that they need to know about what is going on behind the external facade in terms of insulation and fire breaks.

The whole thing is a huge mess for flat owners. We are waiting for our form and our survey is happening in just over a month now (and we should be fine as we know with quite a lot of certainty our construction materials and methods!) but I really feel for anyone who has dangerous cladding or can’t get the survey in the first place!