Seven mortgage lenders to cover cost of making cladding forms public

UK Finance has announced that seven mortgage lenders are to cover the cost of making existing EWS1 forms publicly available through the Fire Industry Association (FIA) Building Safety Information Portal.

The seven lenders are Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Santander and TSB.

EWS1 forms are used for mortgage valuation purposes for flats and determine if a property needs cladding remediation work. They were introduced in 2019 following government guidance to address the Grenfell Tower fire.

The FIA portal was created to host completed EWS1 forms and make them publicly available but UK Finance has warned that many fire professionals who undertake EWS1 assessments have been slow in adding the completed documents to the portal.

As well as covering the cost of uploading an estimated 6,000 existing forms, the seven lenders have also agreed to pay the fees for 250 fire professionals to register on the portal. This collaboration means that homeowners, prospective buyers, valuers and lenders can easily access a building's EWS1 form through a central portal.

“These forms are vitally important for anyone looking to buy, sell or remortgage homes in a multi-storey building,” commented UK Finance director of mortgages, Charles Roe.

“The financial backing and support of the seven lenders is a positive step to keep the housing market moving for flats and apartments. In addition, it will improve transparency and access to building safety information for everyone involved in the home-buying process.”

CEO of the Fire Industry Association (FIA), Ian Moore, added: “We offered to set up the Building Safety Information Portal as a repository to make it easier for the public to find EWS1 forms for their buildings.

“In addition to this are the checks to ensure the person who surveyed the building and completed the EWS1 form is who they say they are, have the correct qualifications, and that the form has been completed correctly.

“Accessibility to accurate information is well overdue and this portal will go some way to solving that. Finally, a huge thanks to UK Finance, the mortgage lenders and RICS in making this project work.”

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?

The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.


Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?



In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.

The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.

In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.