Halifax and BM Solutions have set out new requirements for home buyers or sellers to provide an external wall system form for properties with potentially dangerous cladding or balconies prior to the lender instructing a valuation.

In an email to brokers the lenders explain that the EWS1 form must be completed by a qualified independent professional before valuation can take place. 

BM and Halifax say the form is primarily intended for buildings over six storeys or 18m, but they may still request the document for smaller blocks if a surveyor expresses concerns.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the form applies to the whole building and therefore the lenders would not require additional forms after one flat owner in the block has supplied it.

However, in Scotland the lenders require an EWS1 for individual flats.

An EWS1 form is valid for five years.

The lenders say it is the responsibility of the building owner or its agent to confirm the property meets the requirements of the current guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and provide an EWS1 form.

The assessor must be a member of one of the professional bodies set out by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

In the case of purchases, conveyancers will be required to advise the borrower that the mortgage offer is reliant on the EWS1.

The lenders say that neither they nor their surveyors are liable for the information that was contained in the EWS1 form.

For new build high rise blocks over six storeys/18m an EWS1 form is not automatically required as 2018 building regulations require that any cladding cannot be combustible.

The lenders will add a special condition to the mortgage offer requiring conveyancers to obtain confirmation that the building complies with 2018 building regulations or alternatively provide an EWS1 form.