Government to withdraw consolidated advice note within ‘weeks’, says Jenrick

The advice note is responsible for dragging thousands of low and medium-rise buildings into the crisis which has left thousands of leaseholders unable to sell their properties without having an intrusive EWS1 fire safety survey being carried out on their building.

Mr Jenrick first announced plans to withdraw this advice note in July when he told the House of Commons that lenders should no longer be requesting EWS1 forms on buildings smaller than 18 metres.

At the time the housing secretary provided no timeline for when the advice note would be withdrawn and banks said they would not change their policy until the guidance was officially revoked.

During his speech today, Mr Jenrick said the government must ensure a “proportionate approach” was taken to building safety rather than the “highly risk averse approach” adopted by lenders with regards to low-rise buildings.

He said: “In July, in response to this, I published a statement from experts which stated that there is no evidence of a systemic risk of fire in these blocks and therefore EWS1 forms should not be a requirement on buildings below 18m.

“Lenders have responded positively and indicated that they will review their lending policies. In light of that statement we are waiting for RICS [Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors] to review their evaluation guidance accordingly.

“RICS in turn have also responded positively and committed to doing this shortly. That work now needs to come to a head.”

Mr Jenrick said the lenders must “keep their side of the bargain” and thanked the G15 and other housing associations for “supporting this push for a sensible approach”.