Buying, selling or remortgaging a flat with fire safety issues

An EWS1 assessment of external walls is usually needed before a mortgage lender will lend on properties of 18 metres and over.

• An EWS1 is not a safety certificate and is not a legal requirement when selling a property.
• An EWS1 assessment is done on the building – not the individual flat – and gives a rating from A1 (indicating external walls are unlikely to be combustible) to B2 (combustible materials are present and remediation is needed).
• Some lenders do not require an EWS1 if the building developer has agreed to identify and remediate life-critical fire safety defects (including cladding) on buildings 11 metres and higher that they built or refurbished over the past 30 years.
• EWS1 assessments are valid for 5 years: contact your managing agent to request a copy.

If an EWS1 highlights issues, a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) may be needed to provide a more detailed engineering assessment.

Some mortgage lenders have committed to offering a range of mortgage products for flats affected by cladding and other historic safety defects.

They will lend on buildings in England over 11 metres if either:

• the developers that built them are fixing the defects or the buildings are in a government-funded remediation scheme
• the leaseholder is covered by the leaseholder protections described in the Building Safety Act 2022, as confirmed by a leaseholder deed of certificate

It’s best to contact several providers to find the best mortgage for you.

Some leaseholders qualify to be protected from having to pay to fix historic fire safety issues in their building. The Building Safety Act 2022 protects many leaseholders by stopping or limiting costs for cladding as well as other issues like defective fire doors.

• If you are a qualifying leaseholder and want to sell your flat, your status as a leaseholder on 14 February 2022 will be passed on to your buyer, so they will also qualify.
• If you buy from somebody who was a qualifying leaseholder on 14 February 2022, you inherit that qualifying leaseholder status.

Find out how the protections work and if you are a qualifying leaseholder.

If you’re unable to sell your flat due to fire safety issues, you may still be able to rent it out.

Find out more about subletting and short-term lets.

You may be able to claim costs towards alternative accommodation if you are forced to move out of your flat while a historic safety defect fixed.

If you are not kept informed of what is being done to fix cladding issues, GOV.UK has a feedback form for residents to report issues.