EWS1 (or equivalent) lender data on mortgage valuations for flats: April to December 2021, United Kingdom
Published 17 February 2022
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6 May 2022 correction
There was an error in the EWS1 (or equivalent) lender data on mortgage valuations for flats: April to December 2021, United Kingdom data release, published 17 February 2022. The second last line of the introduction read “Three of the 7 mortgage lenders provided height breakdown information, covering 54,000 mortgage valuations for the October-December quarter”.
This figure is not 54,000, which is the total number of valuations from all seven lenders for the October-December quarter, but 25,000, from three lenders for the October-December quarter.
The sentence has been corrected and now reads “Three of the 7 mortgage lenders provided height breakdown information, covering 25,000 mortgage valuations for the October-December quarter”, reflecting the figure in the rest of the publication and tables.
Headlines
Data received by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), provided by 7 mortgage lenders in the UK, shows that the vast majority of mortgage valuations for flats do not require an EWS1 form or equivalent. Between October and December 2021 there were 54,000 mortgage valuations for flats in the UK by these lenders, with EWS1 forms or equivalent being required in fewer than 1 in 10 cases.
During the October-December and July-September quarters, an EWS1 form or equivalent was required by lenders for 8% of mortgage valuations for flats in the UK. This percentage rose slightly from 7% in October to 9% in December.
Data received by DLUHC from three mortgage lenders who provided height breakdown information, covering 25,000 mortgage valuations between October and December 2021, shows that EWS1s or equivalent are requested to a greater extent for higher rise blocks of flats: 50% of mortgage valuations for flats in buildings 7 storeys and above required an EWS1 form or equivalent during the October-December quarter, down from 52% in the July-September quarter.
EWS1s or equivalent are requested to a lesser extent for medium and lower rise blocks of flats: Only 6% of mortgage valuations for flats in blocks under 7 storeys tall required an EWS1 form or equivalent during both the October-December and July-September quarters.
From October to December 2021, mortgage valuations for flats in buildings under 7 storeys showed a large variation in the percentage requiring an EWS1 form or equivalent by height.
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Flats in the lowest-rise buildings (1-3 or 1-4 storeys) required an EWS1 form or equivalent in 2% of mortgage valuations during both the October-December and July-September quarters.
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Flats in mid-rise buildings (4-6 or 5-6 storeys), required an EWS1 form or equivalent in 27% of valuations in the October-December quarter, up from 23% of valuations in the July-September quarter.
Introduction
External wall fire review process forms, commonly known as ‘EWS1’ forms, have been developed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), UK Finance and the Building Societies Association to support the valuation process for high-rise residential buildings with cladding. An EWS1 form is not a government or regulatory requirement, nor is it a building or life safety assessment. On 8 March 2021, RICS published guidance on the criteria that should be used to determine whether a building needs an EWS1 form (RICS, 2021).
There is a low incidence of fire spreading in blocks of flats[footnote 1] and action is being taken to address industry and regulatory enforcement failings exposed by the Grenfell Tower tragedy across the minority of blocks of flats where potential risks do exist. Government, on the basis of expert advice published on 21 July 2021, has been clear that it does not believe EWS1s are necessary on any blocks of flats below 18m in height and is working with lenders and valuers to ensure their lending and valuation policies are more proportionate to real risk. The publication of lenders’ EWS1 data will be updated quarterly to track progress.
This data release publishes information on the number of EWS1 forms or equivalent that have been required as reported by 7 major lenders in the United Kingdom. This data release is an ad-hoc release and does not constitute an Official Statistics or National Statistics release.
DLUHC has received monthly data in an aggregated, anonymised format for the period April 2021 to December 2021. Lenders have provided figures for the total number of valuations carried out for flats, and the number of these valuations where an EWS1 form or equivalent was required. Where possible, these data are categorised according to building height. Three of the 7 mortgage lenders provided height breakdown information, covering 25,000 mortgage valuations for the October-December quarter.
These data are as reported to DLUHC and represent the majority of the lending market.
Data tables
Table 1. Quarterly mortgage valuations and EWS1 form requirements
| April to December 2021 | July to September 2021 | October to December 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of mortgage valuations for flats for which data was received* | 163,000 | 55,000 | 54,000 |
| Percentage of mortgage valuations for flats where an EWS1 form or equivalent was required | 8% | 8% | 8% |
| Percentage of mortgage valuations for flats where an EWS1 form or equivalent was not required | 92% | 92% | 92% |
*The figure for flats of all heights (including unknown height) is calculated using data from 7 major lenders, where data were provided for this period. Number of valuations are rounded to the nearest 1,000.
Table 2. Quarterly mortgage valuations and EWS1 form requirements, by height
| April to December 2021 | July to September 2021 | October to December 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of mortgage valuations for which height breakdown data was received1 | 79,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| Percentage of mortgage valuations where an EWS1 form or equivalent was required - Lowest Rise (1-3 or 1-4 storeys)2 | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Percentage of mortgage valuations where an EWS1 form or equivalent was required - Mid Rise (4-6 or 5-6 storeys)2 | 22%3 | 23%3 | 27% |
| Percentage of mortgage valuations where an EWS1 form or equivalent was required - Combined lowest rise and mid-rise (under 7 storeys) | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Percentage of mortgage valuations where an EWS1 form or equivalent was required - High Rise (7 storeys or more) | 51% | 52% | 50% |
1 Number of valuations is rounded to the nearest 1,000. These figures are calculated from data from 3 major lenders, as these lenders had full height breakdowns for all valuations.
2 Data collected from April to July 2021 are not directly comparable to data from August 2021 onwards. From April to July 2021, two lenders group 1-3 storeys together, and one lender groups 1-4 storeys together, and similarly two lenders group 4-6 storeys together and one lender groups 5-6 storeys together. From August 2021 onwards, all lenders have grouped 1-4 storeys together and 5-6 storeys together.
3 These figures should not be used to estimate the percentage of valuations in 5-6 storey buildings requiring an EWS1 form or equivalent, because from April to July 2021 two lenders include 4 storey buildings in the mid-rise category and building height can affect whether an EWS1 form or equivalent is required.
Definitions
Lenders either use EWS1 forms, or their own in-house equivalent.
“EWS1 form or equivalent was required” includes flats in buildings where an EWS1 form or equivalent was already held for the building. Therefore, these figures are likely to be higher than the number of new EWS1 forms or equivalent that lenders request.
Mortgage valuations refer to the total number of valuations completed as part of a mortgage application process, covering regulated mortgages, buy-to-let mortgages and second-home mortgages. Cash purchases are not included. These data do not reflect mortgages granted or sales.
Data quality
Data is provided by lenders to DLUHC in an aggregated, anonymised format. DLUHC consequently does not have oversight of lenders’ collection systems and quality procedures. This is the second data publication. DLUHC are continuing to work with lenders with a view to further enhance its quality and seek further data to better understand the impact of EWS1 requirement on mortgage transactions.
Lenders were asked to provide monthly data from April 2021 onwards on EWS1s. However, there are some gaps for specific months from different lenders. Where monthly data are missing, DLUHC have gone back to lenders to request these data, but DLUHC have not attempted to impute missing data. In this publication we are publishing the most up to date data, for the period October 2021 to December 2021.
Where height data have been provided by lenders, there is inconsistency below 7 storeys. Height has a large impact on percentage of valuations requiring an EWS1 form or equivalent, with valuations in lower rise blocks having lower percentages of EWS1 or equivalent necessary. Therefore, this figure is likely to be lower than the percentage of valuations in 5-6 storey buildings which require EWS1 forms or equivalent, due to the inclusion of 4 storeys for two lenders. In the future we aim to publish consistent height brackets of 1-4 storeys, 5-6 storeys and 7+ storeys.
This publication covers the latest quarter of data (October-December 2021). We aim to update this publication on a quarterly basis.
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In 2020/21, 8% of fires spread beyond the room of origin in blocks of flats over 4 storeys, compared with 9% in blocks below 4 storeys and 15% in houses, bungalows, converted flats and other dwellings. See fire statistics data tables. ↩