Ministers鈥� plan to free up housing market by reducing use of controversial fire safety forms faces setback

The government鈥檚 drive to ensure smaller housing blocks are no longer subject to EWS1 form requirements has hit a setback with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) refusing to change its current guidance on their use.

This flies in the face of the recent insistence by ministers that housing blocks below 18m in height should no longer require fire safety checks.

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Homeowners unable to sell their flats picketed the Tory party conference in Manchester this autumn

But, following a five-month consultation, RICS has decided to retain its current advice, which recommends valuers use the controversial fire safety information forms on blocks of under four metres in some circumstances (see box below). RICS said the move will 鈥減rotect both the public and the stability of the property market鈥�.

Ministers in the summer said EWS1 forms, which have been blamed for widespread difficulties in getting homes valued and mortgaged, should no longer be required on buildings under 18m in height.

But in a statement today, Dame Janet Paraskeva, chair of RICS鈥� independent standards and regulation board, said the guidance should stay in place to 鈥渟afeguard the public interest鈥�.

She added: 鈥淭his is so that purchasers do not risk finding themselves trapped in flats of any height because potentially crippling costs are ignored and passed unwittingly on to them, which so many current owners have discovered too late.

鈥淚n taking this position the board has heard the views of the lenders, valuers and conveyancers and is clear that RICS must not let this critical issue be swept under the carpet because the correct inspections have not taken place.鈥�

In August, several key lenders including HSBC and Lloyds told 黑洞社区鈥檚 sister title Housing Today of the need to work with RICS to update its guidance.

UK Finance, a trade association for lenders, said at the time that once all documents, including the RICS guidance, are updated 鈥渂orrowers and lenders should be in a clearer position鈥� about what they should do regarding smaller blocks.

The government has been approached for comment on the RICS decision.

Housing secretary Michael Gove last month said he is aiming for the government to withdraw its own Consolidated Advice Note requiring the use of EWS1 forms on all blocks 鈥渂efore Christmas鈥�. If the government proceeds, lenders could be left with conflicting advice from government and RICS over the use of EWS1 forms.

According to analysis last year by the new Build Database and the Daily Telegraph, 3.7 million properties in blocks between 11m and 18m are affected by the EWS1 form rules.

The RICS guidance

For buildings over six storeys an EWS1 form should be required where:

  • There is cladding or curtain wall glazing on the building or
  • there are balconies which stack vertically above each other and either both the balustrades and decking are constructed with combustible materials (e.g. timber) or the decking is constructed with combustible materials and the balconies are directly linked by combustible material.

For buildings of five or six storeys an EWS1 form should be required where:

  • There is a significant amount of cladding on the building (for the purpose of this guidance, approximately one quarter of the whole elevation estimated from what is visible standing at ground level is a significant amount) or
  • there are ACM, MCM or HPL panels on the building or
  • there are balconies which stack vertically above each other and either both the balustrades and decking are constructed with combustible materials (e.g. timber), or the decking is constructed with combustible materials and the balconies are directly linked by combustible materials.

For buildings of four storeys or fewer an EWS1 form should be required where:

  • There are ACM, MCM or HPL panels on the building

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