Mayor of London to help leaseholders get building safety information

New guidance from the Mayor of London will encourage landlords to help leaseholders get building safety forms and understand building safety risks.

Landlords with responsibilities for external walls are being encouraged to do more to facilitate EWS1 inspections, which were intended by the government to remedy safety issues faced by leaseholders in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy.

The EWS1 form provides a simple assessment of building safety to support mortgage, lease and staircasing negotiations.

However, many leaseholders have been unable to secure a form, leaving them unable to re-mortgage or sell their property.

Leaseholders have told City Hall of frustrations including identifying who is responsible for securing an EWS1 form for their building and disagreements about when documentation should be required.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: ‘Nearly five years after the Grenfell Tower fire there are still too many Londoners who don’t feel safe in their homes.

‘For too long now Londoners trapped in unsafe flats have faced a drawn out and complicated process to get an EWS1 form. The guidance published today will help leaseholders get this vital information by improving the way landlords and managing agents commission EWS1 forms and share those findings with the leaseholders who need them.

‘The building safety crisis is a national crisis and it requires national solutions. While some progress is now belatedly being made by the Government, leaseholders are still facing huge bills for problems they played no part in causing. I’m determined to continue to fight for the rights of leaseholders to feel safe in their homes and to prevent them paying for a building safety crisis that is not of their making. That includes putting pressure on the private sector, the developers, the Government and those who manage these sites to ensure Londoners can feel safe in their homes again.’

The new guidance published by City Hall today is designed to set out how landlords can raise standards and provide a better service to leaseholders when it comes to dealing with EWS1 forms. Recommendations in the guidance include:

• Landlords and managing agents should support leaseholders and commit to facilitating EWS1 assessments
• Landlords and managing agents should prioritise the most at-risk buildings for assessment
• Landlords and managing agents should clearly set out how the costs of an EWS1 assessment will be met, shared or reimbursed
• Leaseholders should be kept fully informed, about not just EWS1 assessments, but also the costs and implications of wider building safety issues

Dave Richards, London Cladding Action Group, commented: ‘Thousands upon thousands of Londoners are trapped in unsafe buildings through no fault of their own, it is essential buildings are made safe.  We welcome the Mayor’s move to engage with residents and bring stakeholders together in developing this new guidance. It will help bring about an improvement in standards and help provide a better service to leaseholders when dealing with EWS1 forms.’

Photo by Alfie Chapman