A number of major mortgage lenders have agreed to lend on buildings with fire safety defects on the condition the properties are entitled to funding to fix safety faults.
Barclays Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest and Santander all made the pledge in a joint statement with The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
In the statement, the lenders said the Building Safety Act gave them the reassurance they needed to start granting mortgages on affected flats.
“The introduction of the developer self-remediation scheme, plans to re-open the Building Safety Fund and a new remediation scheme for buildings between 11-18 metres will help to remove the financial risk to leaseholders in blocks of flats 11 metres and above,” they said.
“We also recognise that the costs for remediating non-cladding defects is capped in law for qualifying leaseholders.”
The statement added: “RICS agrees that the Building Safety Act has played a critical role in unlocking the lending market regarding properties with cladding, and this will create a vehicle to allow valuations on all blocks of flats as identified above.
“A transparent approach to valuing properties with building safety defects is instrumental in underpinning confidence of lenders and purchasers.
“RICS will continue to safeguard housing market stability for buildings 11 metres and above, and support valuers to take a consistent valuation approach, to help facilitate lending.”
