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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy is on leaseholders who need to re-mortgage to pay for fire safety remediation works but cannot secure an EWS1 form to do so.

The leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act came into force on 28 June 2022. This means qualifying leaseholders in England can no longer be charged for cladding remediation. There are legal protections in place for non-cladding costs which are capped and spread over ten years.

Furthermore, qualifying leaseholders in properties valued at below £325,00 in Greater London and £175,000 elsewhere in England will be protected from all cladding and non-cladding costs.

We are working with lenders to ensure that a qualifying lease certificate will provide all necessary assurances for mortgage decisions.