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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made on merits of the requirement of EWS1 External Wall Fire Surveys on private residential property values in high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) designed the EWS1 process in conjunction with mortgage lenders. Its aim is to assist with valuations of high-rise residential buildings where remediation to ensure building safety might be required. The EWS1 process is not Government policy or a regulatory requirement. The Government is aware that the EWS1 process is being used on lower rise buildings, does not support such blanket use, and is encouraging industry to adopt a more proportionate approach.