Mortgage Finance Gazette readers will be very familiar by now with the problems associated with high rise flats, some of which have potentially unsafe cladding and many of which are currently un-mortgageable.

People who bought flats may be stuck unable to sell or remortgage. Purchasers still interested in buying cannot get mortgages.

Not all high-rise blocks are unsafe however. Some blocks may be unfairly stigmatised. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is now attempting to introduce some clarity and consistency.

The RICS is responsible for regulating all those surveyors who undertake mortgage valuations and regularly publishes guidance notes for valuers covering a whole range of valuation issues with a global reach.

The RICS has published draft guidance on this topic: Valuation of Multi-storey, Multi-Occupancy Buildings with Cladding. It is inviting comments and has arranged a consultation exercise. A copy of the draft guidance can be viewed on the RICS website. The consultation period runs from 8 January to 25 January 2021 and it is hoped a final copy of the guidance will be published some time in February.

EWSI form requests

When surveyors valuing flats are uncertain whether or not unsafe cladding is present they can request the vendor or the vendor’s agent to obtain an EWSI form before providing a mortgage valuation.

These forms are completed by specialists following a more detailed examination of the building. A delay is therefore inevitable and there is currently a shortage of the necessary specialists. In the absence of an EWSI form the valuer may simply return a nil valuation and advise that the flat be declined as unsuitable security.

The RICS consultation focuses on whether some EWSI forms may be requested unnecessarily causing delay in the mortgage approval process and additional stress for mortgage applicants.

There has been a tendency for some surveyors to request these forms on most of the high rise blocks they inspect whether needed or not.

The RICS proposes agreed criteria defining those buildings less likely to require expensive remedial work and that valuers could be empowered to make reasonable assumptions in those cases without requesting an EWSI form.

Experienced surveyors will immediately recognise those blocks which will not feature unsafe cladding and these include buildings constructed of solid or cavity brickwork, stonework and blockwork.

Also building clad externally in concrete panels and modern timber frame construction with a brick outer skin. The RICS confirms that no EWSI form is appropriate in these cases.

The construction for which the form is needed includes cladding in Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), Brick Slips, High Pressure Laminate (HPL), Metal Composite Material (MCM) and Metal Sheet Panels.

It also applies to Rendered External Wall Insulation Systems, Plastic, Tiling and Timber together with Curtain Wall Glazing.

Brick Slips are an interesting case because they look, to the untrained eye, just like cavity brickwork but are in fact tiles fixed to the face of the building with insulation (which may or may not be combustible) behind.

Experienced surveyors will recognise brick slips and most of the other potentially unsafe cladding types however the surveyor’s inspection for a mortgage valuation is by its nature quite brief so there will inevitably some inspections which are inconclusive still needing a further specialist report.

Financial advisers and brokers arranging mortgages would be advised to take a look at the draft RICS guidance.

Peter Glover is a surveyor and author of ‘Building Surveys’ and ‘Buying a House or Flat’