Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the RICS EWS1 form guidance published on 8 March 2021, what estimate he has made of the number of buildings over 18m where there are balconies that which stack vertically above each other and either (a) both the balustrades and decking are constructed with combustible materials or (b) the decking is constructed with combustible materials and the balconies are directly linked by combustible material.

This information is not held.

The department has published estimates regarding EWS1 requirements on residential buildings in England and these estimates are available online here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-estimates-of-ews1-requirements-on-residential-buildings-in-england/building-safety-programme-estimates-of-ews1-requirements-on-residential-buildings-in-england.

The analysis is based on information provided by local authorities and housing associations who are conducting a data collection exercise as part of a programme to build a more complete picture of high-rise residential buildings and the variety of external wall systems in use.

To speed up valuations where EWS1 forms are justified, the Government is providing nearly £700,000 funding to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to train up to 2,000 more assessors in 2021. This training commenced in January and there are over 700 candidates on the course.