Building Safety Inspection Programme update

Published on 31/01/2025

April 2025 update - announcement from UK Finance on mortgage lending where an EWS1 form has an “invalid signatory”

UK Finance, the trade association representing the UK banking and financial services sector, and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, have now issued guidance confirming that mortgage lenders may now consider other building safety evidence where an EWS1 form has an invalid signatory (meaning that the company or person signing the form is no longer qualified to do so), provided that the signatory met the competence criteria at the time they completed the form. You can view the guidance on the UK Finance website.

We can confirm that, at the time of signing EWS1 forms for L&Q, Tri Fire met the criteria. This means that lenders should now be more willing to lend where a building has the original EWS1 form signed by Tri Fire.

We will continue to work with residents affected by this issue, and their mortgage lenders, to support them through this process. If you or your potential buyer have been affected by a lender raising concerns with a Tri Fire certificate, please email our Fire Safety Engagement team as soon as possible.

January 2025

Following recent announcements regarding allegations against a senior fire engineer at Tri Fire, L&Q has stopped working with this company and will review all building safety certificates issued by them.

More details about this case are available on the Institution of Fire Engineers website.

We would like to reassure residents whose buildings have previously been inspected by Tri Fire that this does not automatically mean that your home is unsafe.

We are now working with an independent panel of Fire Engineers to review any building inspections conducted by Tri Fire at L&Q buildings. Where the panel is not satisfied with their report, we will instruct a new inspection of the building as soon as possible.

We will be writing to residents in affected buildings to let you know what will happen and when.

We are very sorry to hear that some residents are now struggling to secure a mortgage, as some lenders are rejecting EWS1 Forms issued by Tri Fire. We will work with residents and their mortgage lenders to support them through this process.

If you or your potential buyer have been affected by a lender raising concerns with a Tri Fire certificate, please email our Fire Safety Engagement team as soon as possible.

We understand that this situation may be difficult and frustrating for residents. We apologise for any stress this may cause and will do everything we can to ensure that inspections are reviewed and, where necessary, undertaken again as quickly as possible.

Residents will not be charged for the cost of the new inspections, and if your building requires work to make it safe as a result of our review, you will benefit from the same protections that have been in place since June 2022.