Ban developers starting new work until their EWS1 failing buildings are fixed

Property developers who are historically responsible for buildings that have failed their EWS1 certificate and require works, should not be allowed to start work on new developments, until their previous development failings have been rectified, helping to resolve the situation with more speed.

If property developers aren't held responsible for their unsafe historical buildings, how can the public be assured that their new buildings won't also fail these safety checks in the future? By stopping developers starting on new work until failings are fixed, they'll need to divert their workforce, funds and focus to help resolve this building fire safety crisis across their past portfolio, which is currently affecting many thousands of people. The levy put into action today isn't good enough.

While the Government agrees that buildings must be made safe, and we have been clear that building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders, we do not intend to ban developers from starting new works where buildings do not have a EWS1 form.

It is important to clarify that the EWS1 process and EWS1 form is not a Government, or regulatory requirement, and it is not a safety certificate. The EWS1 process was created by industry to help understand if a building may need value affecting remediation work. This information is then used by lenders when making mortgage lending decisions. Buildings cannot ‘fail’ an EWS1 assessment. In March 2021, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published guidance on the use of the EWS1 process. This guidance offers greater clarity and consistency on when an EWS1 should or shouldn't be used. We estimate that nearly 500,000 homeowners should no longer need an EWS1 to sell their property if the RICS guidance - which is supported by the majority of lenders - is followed.

We have seen many responsible developers and building owners stepping up to remediate their buildings and protect leaseholders from costs. In more than half of the cases where there is ACM cladding on private sector residential blocks, the original developer or current building owner has agreed to pay or there has been a warranty in place to cover the costs, therefore protecting leaseholders.

Where they have not stepped up, we have intervened with an unprecedented £5.1 billion investment into building safety to fund the remediation of unsafe cladding for leaseholders in residential buildings over 18 metres. Low-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, will gain new protection from the costs of cladding remediation with a finance scheme, through which no leaseholder will have to pay more than £50 per month.