Feature: Flat owners caught in mortgage trap

The Grenfell fire tragedy of June 2017, in which 72 people died, has highlighted fire safety issues with thousands of blocks of flats, exposed decades of lax building controls, and shone a light on a construction sector that focused on building properties fast and cheap. The fire spread quickly […] Click here to view original…

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RICS highlights importance of expertise required to sign off EWS1 forms

The EWS1 is a form introduced as part of a new External Wall Fire Review process valuing high-rise buildings. The EWS1 form was introduced in December last year in response to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The form designates whether the external wall of a building, or attachments […] Click here to view original…

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Scammers hijack EWS1 process with fake cladding inspection forms

Leaseholders are being duped into paying thousands of pounds to fraudsters faking inspection forms amid concerns over fire safety. Which? has evidence that at least one firm has issued fake External Wall Survey (EWS1) forms to several apartment buildings across the country. The forged forms, used to confirm whether […] Click here to view original…

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Fatcat developers created our housing crisis. Here’s how to stop them

If you want to see who influences the government, you can do worse than look at Whitehall’s neighbours. In a grand Victorian building opposite the House of Commons in Parliament Square stands the headquarters of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors . With a history dating back to 1792, […] Click here to view original…

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Housing secretary announces new fire safety regime

All resi buildings above six storeys will now be covered by new regulator, while buildings above 11m will need sprinklers A new government fire safety regime for residential buildings will cover all buildings above six storeys, and will see sprinklers banned on all buildings above 11m, the government said […] Click here to view original…

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