A Bristol woman abandoned her dreams of buying a £195,000 flat after banks deemed the property 'worthless' because it could have dangerous cladding.
Charlotte Beale had already spent almost £1,000 on surveys and reports, when it was flagged the building in north Bristol did not have an EWS1 form.
This crucial form shows if the building has high-risk cladding - similar to that of the Grenfell tragedy which killed 72 people in 2017 - and there's an eight-month wait to just to get this survey on the building carried out.
The 29-year-old council worker said: "No one would lend to me without that form.
"The report came back the property was worthless without it.
"I'd invested a lot in it. The whole thing has put me off buying a flat now."
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Charlotte’s family were able to help her out financially, otherwise she says there is no way she would have been able to afford to buy another property.
"Houses are selling like hot cakes, no one wants to buy a flat anymore," she said.
It's estimated that at least 1.5 million leaseholders' homes could be declared worthless, and they could face bills into the thousands due to fire-hazard cladding on their properties.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson said: “We understand many people are worried - our multi-billion-pound investment will protect those in the highest risk buildings from unaffordable costs and ensure no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month to remove cladding.
“Our package of support is an important step towards restoring confidence in the housing market – reassuring lenders that where cladding remediation is needed, costs will not be a barrier or mean that mortgage payments become unmanageable.
“Government funding does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure their buildings are safe. Where building owners are failing to make acceptable progress, those responsible should expect further action to be taken."
Have you been impacted by cladding on your building? Email emma.grimshaw@reachplc.com
