UK Flat Owners Unable to Sell Due to Fire Hazard Survey; Scammers Take Advantage

Potentially thousands of flat owners may not be able to sell or remortgage their homes for years because they cannot get their hands on new fire safety paperwork required by banks and builders, according to a report by The Guardian.

To make matters worse, scammers are duping homeowners by faking fire safety forms.

Three million people’s homes have been made worthless due to the cladding crisis, Metro reported.

Many homeowners have wanted to take advantage of the stamp duty tax break, but because their homes have cladding they are considered “unsellable.”

To avoid dangerous fires from spreading quickly, cladding adds an additional layer to a building.

Since the Grenfell Tower fire, which happened after the building’s cladding caught fire, millions of homeowners have been trapped in their mortgages, and some will have to wait several more years before building inspections can be done or repairs can be made, The Guardian reported. 

The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people. Following the fire, surveyors working for mortgage lenders have been doing additional checks to make sure buildings were not built using combustible materials.

Many of them are now asking for evidence of the external wall survey, in an External Wall Fire Review (ESW1) certificate, according to The Guardian.

But issues are arising as people discover their building does not have an ESW1 certificate. 

Now, defeated homeowners are unable to sell their homes unless they find buyers who will pay in cash. Shared-ownership property owners are also discovering they are unable to get mortgages.

The cladding controversy has stopped couples from having children because they do not have room for them and they are unable to sell and buy a bigger home.

Some homeowners have found a buyer for their flat and then were devastated by the news that their home is virtually worthless.

Homeowners will have to pay to make their homes safe with fire safety measures.

To make things more complicated, homeowners are being scammed into paying thousands for fake fire safety inspection forms.

An investigation by Which? has shown that at least one business has used fake EWS1 forms for many flats across the U.K. The forged documents might have been used to carry out thousands of pounds’ worth of work.

Which? has found that fraudsters have faked names and signatures of official surveyors to pass or fail apartment buildings. Some EWS1 forms were discovered to have signatures of inexistent building surveyors. “Cladding” technicians who who do not have the proper qualifications have put their signatures on fraudulent EWS1 forms. 

Housing minister Christopher Pincher said mortgage lenders are examining the EWS1 forms following a conference with the government, according to the Fire Protection Association. 

The housing, communities and local government committee (HCLGC) findings show that repairing fire safety issues in apartment buildings could cost £15 billion.  

The committee sought assistance from the government, declaring that a “faster and fairer” system needed to be put into place and that ministers should create more transparent guidance for mortgage lenders.

The Fire Protection Association reported that the HCLGC is asking the government to “urgently work with mortgage providers to give residents the right to remain on their existing mortgage deals and not be forced to move onto expensive standard variable rate (SVR) mortgages.

“Where residents have already been forced to move onto standard variable rate mortgages, lenders should immediately offer them the right to move to one of their cheaper products.” 

Has your home been deemed “unsellable” because of the cladding debacle? Tell us your story in the comments.

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