Following the Building Safety Bill’s second reading, leaseholders in blocks of flats with cladding should be supported to buy, sell or re-mortgage their homes after the government agreed with major lenders to pave the way to ending the need for EWS1 forms.
The announcement by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick comes following advice from fire safety experts commissioned to investigate risk in medium and lower-rise buildings, which found that that the EWS1 forms should no longer be needed on buildings below 18m, since the study made clear there is no systemic risk of fire in these blocks of flats.
The report recommends that residents are reassured as to safety, and a more proportionate approach is urgently instituted, requiring action by all market participants.
A group of major high street lenders have now committed to reviewing their practices following the new advice, and have said that the expert report and government statement paves the way for EWS1 forms to no longer be required for buildings below 18m, further unlocking the housing market.
The government is now calling on others to demonstrate leadership by working rapidly to update guidance and policies in line with the expert advice.
The advice was commissioned by the Secretary of State after witnessing what Dame Judith Hackitt described as ‘extreme risk aversion’, which has left leaseholders across the country receiving costly bills for remediation that is not necessary.
Therefore, the intervention is designed to reduce needless and costly remediation in lower rise buildings, and is part of wider efforts to restore balance to the housing market.
The government is already fully funding the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on all buildings over 18m, through the unprecedented £5 billion Building Safety Fund.
A missed opportunity
The Association for Project Safety (APS) welcomed the focus on building safety, but is concerned that the Building Safety Bill fails to take a holistic view of any project, and misses an opportunity to put safety first at the heart of construction.
Jonathan Moulam, president of the APS, said: “The APS believes all buildings – tall and small – should be safe from concept to decommissioning. Safety is a must-have and must be in gold-medal place on the podium for any project – all other considerations are also-rans no matter how beautiful or innovative or cheap.
“APS members are experts in construction design and risk management so support the stated desire of the Building Safety Bill to make projects safer. But the APS believes the Building Safety Bill is a missed opportunity to slot all the safety pieces together.
“The association is pleased there is a better sense that responsibility for safety is expressly handed on from dutyholder to dutyholder throughout the lifespan of any project, but the narrow focus on height, spread of fire and structural safety risks losing a sense of the whole picture by concentrating on individual pieces.”
Jonathan continued: “It is right that responsibility for building safety must be clear at all times, but complex projects need teams and joined up working to deliver safety. Putting the legal burden for safety on the shoulders of individual named dutyholders means many projects won’t get off the ground and costs will soar. At a time when construction is desperate for workers, this Bill risks forcing out of business, people working alone – and even quite big firms – offering safety services because the insurance they need will be beyond anyone’s bank balance.”
