Sell a Flat with Cladding or No EWS1 for Cash

Since the changes that followed Grenfell, thousands of flats in England have been left in an uncomfortable position: perfectly liveable, but impossible to mortgage. If the external wall has not been assessed and signed off, or the assessment came back saying work is needed, lenders step away, and with them go almost all the buyers.

That is where we come in. We buy flats in buildings with unresolved cladding, no EWS1, or a rating that lenders will not accept, for cash and with no lender to satisfy. For the legal background, the remediation programmes and what has changed, read our guide to cladding remediation under the Building Safety Act. This page is about selling.

We are not the right answer for every cladding-affected flat, and we will tell you when we are not. If your building’s works are funded and dated, waiting may pay you more than selling now. If they are not, or you cannot wait, that is what we are for.

Why the flat will not sell

A mortgage lender needs to know that the building is safe to lend against and that the flat can be resold. For buildings with cladding concerns, the lender’s shorthand for that is the EWS1 form: an assessment of the external wall by a qualified professional. An A-rating, or a B1, generally satisfies them. A B2, or no form at all, generally does not.

Without a form the lender will accept, the buyer cannot borrow. Without a buyer who can borrow, the pool shrinks to people with cash, and most cash buyers are not looking for a flat with an open-ended remediation question attached.

The result is a flat that estate agents struggle to market, that attracts viewings but no proceedable offers, or that goes under offer and collapses at the point the buyer’s lender gets involved.

What we buy

We buy leasehold flats where the cladding position is unresolved in any of these ways:

• No EWS1 has been issued, because nobody has assessed the building or nobody will sign.
• The EWS1 is a B2, so remedial work is required before lenders will accept it.
• Remediation is planned but not funded, or is funded but has no timetable.
• Remediation is under way, with the building wrapped in scaffolding and the end date uncertain.
• The building is under 18 metres and has fallen into the gap where lenders are cautious but the government’s programmes do not clearly apply.

We buy with the building’s position exactly as it is. You do not need to obtain a form, complete any works, or wait for the managing agent to resolve anything before you sell.

Selling now or waiting: an honest comparison

This is the question that matters most, and it deserves a straight answer.

If the works are funded and dated, by a developer under the pledge, by a government scheme, or by a freeholder who has committed, then the flat will recover its value when the works finish. Selling now means accepting a price that reflects today’s uncertainty, in exchange for certainty and speed today. That is a reasonable trade if you need to move on, and a poor one if you can afford to wait.

If the works are not funded, or the timetable keeps slipping, or the service charge exposure is open-ended, then waiting has a cost too, and it is not always visible. Every year of uncertainty is a year of not being able to move, remortgage or plan. In that position, a firm cash offer with a completion date is often worth more than a theoretical recovery with no date attached.

We will ask you which position your building is in, and we will tell you which we think applies. If waiting is the better answer, we would rather say so than buy a flat you should have kept.

How we price a cladding-affected flat

We start from what the flat would be worth in a building with no cladding question, then account for what we would be taking on:

• The remediation position. Funded and dated is one thing; unfunded and unplanned is another. The more open the question, the more risk we carry and the more that is reflected in the figure.
• Leaseholder cost exposure. What the building’s leaseholders are, or might be, asked to contribute, and whether the protections in the Building Safety Act cap that for this flat.
• Running costs. Waking watch, insurance premiums that have multiplied, and any arrears that have to be settled at completion.
• The building itself. Height, construction, the managing agent’s competence, and how far through the process the building actually is.

We set this reasoning out in your written offer, so you can see how each factor moved the number rather than just being handed a figure. You can read how we calculate a cash offer for the method behind it.

In the great majority of cases, RPJ is the buyer. Just occasionally a property suits another buyer, or an estate agent, better than it suits us, and they can genuinely do better for you than we can. When that happens we say so, and with your permission we introduce you: one introduction, to one named firm, never a list. Where they go on to buy, we sometimes receive an introduction fee from them. You never pay us anything, and nothing about you is shared without your say-so.

What to send us

• The postcode and address, and the building’s name if it has one.
• The EWS1 form, if one exists, whatever its rating.
• Any fire risk appraisal (a FRAEW or FRA) the managing agent has circulated.
• The managing agent’s most recent letter on remediation: what is planned, who is paying, and when.
• The service charge accounts or budget, and any arrears.
• The lease length, since a short lease alongside a cladding issue changes the picture. See selling a short lease flat.

If you do not have all of this, send what you have. We will help chase the rest.

Related pages

• Cladding remediation under the Building Safety Act, for the law, the programmes and where they stand.
• Sell an unmortgageable property, for the wider picture on what lenders will not touch.
• Sell a short lease flat, if the lease is also short.
• EWS1 form in the glossary.

Start an offer

If a cladding question has left your flat stuck, tell us about it. We will come back within 24 hours with a written, no-obligation offer, the reasoning behind it, and an honest view on whether selling now or waiting for remediation is the better route for you.