Industry reacts as government scraps EWS1 forms for buildings below 18 metres

Comment from Warwick estates…

COO of Warwick Estates, Bethan Griffiths, commented:

“Whilst we welcome the government’s about turn on deeming 800,000 affected flats now safe, one wonders why it took four years for this to be ascertained.

Meantime over £190billion worth of UK property assets has been held in limbo, trapping owners into a seemingly unnecessary and protracted state of anxiety.

Notwithstanding the relief of hundreds of thousands of leaseholders, hundreds of freehold apartment owners including asset managers and property investment houses can also now restore these assets to full value on their balance sheets

Wiping out one-fifth of a trillion pounds in property value is equal to around 9.7% of GDP and was likely to be somewhat missed economically.”