Mortgage lenders are not planning to change their lending practices in the short term following the government’s announcement that External Wall Fire Review Forms (EWS1) forms should no longer be required for blocks of less than 18 metres in height.

Several lenders have told Housing Today there will be no immediate change to their approach while they wait for updated guidance from the government and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), despite housing secretary Robert Jenrick hailing his July announcement as a “significant step forward for leaseholders” struggling to sell homes due to the fire safety crisis.

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