UK Property Check

What should you check about cladding before buying a flat?

Check whether the lease qualifies for the 2022 protections in England. If so, you pay nothing for unsafe cladding on a building of 11 metres or five storeys, and other safety repairs are capped, usually at £10,000 or £15,000 in London.

Before you exchange, ask for the seller's deed of certificate, the landlord's certificate and the fire risk assessment. The lender may also ask for an EWS1 form. Wales has separate rules.

Updated 9 minute readThe buildingWritten and checked by UK Property Check. General information, not advice.

From 11 metres or five storeys, the leaseholder protections can apply. From 18 metres or seven storeys, the building must be registered as a higher-risk building. The block is an example.

Which flats the protections cover

The Building Safety Act 2022 limits what qualifying leaseholders in England pay to fix historical safety defects. Whether a flat is covered depends on the building, the lease and who owned it on 14 February 2022.

The tests in sections 117 to 120 of the Building Safety Act 2022
TestThe flat is covered if
The buildingIt is in England, has at least two homes, and is at least 11 metres high or has at least five storeys. Buildings where the leaseholders have bought the freehold, or on commonhold land, are excluded
The leaseIt is a lease of one home for more than 21 years, with a service charge, granted before 14 February 2022
The owner on 14 February 2022The flat was their main home, or they owned no more than three homes in the UK, including this one
The defectIt puts people at risk from fire spreading or the building collapsing, and comes from work completed in the 30 years before 28 June 2022

Sources: section 117, section 119, section 120.

The test looks at the position on 14 February 2022, and GOV.UK says the protections then pass automatically to later buyers. A newer lease is covered only if it replaced a qualifying lease, as on a lease extension.

Below 11 metres the protections do not apply. GOV.UK says cheaper measures, such as fire alarms, are more likely to be suitable in lower buildings.

Sources: section 119A, GOV.UK FAQs.

What a qualifying leaseholder can be charged

The limits apply to service charges for historical safety defects. They are set out in Schedule 8 to the Act.

Service charges for historical safety defects on a qualifying lease
CostWhat you can be charged
Removing or replacing unsafe claddingNothing
Other historical safety work, including interim measures such as a waking watchCapped at £10,000, or £15,000 in Greater London. The cap is £50,000 if the flat was worth over £1 million on 14 February 2022, and £100,000 if over £2 million
In any 12 monthsNo more than a tenth of the cap, so the cost is spread over at least 10 years
Flat worth less than £175,000 on 14 February 2022, or £325,000 in Greater LondonNothing
Landlord passed the net worth test on 14 February 2022: its group was worth over £2 million for each building of 11 metres or five storeys it was landlord ofNothing
Defects the landlord, or a company linked to it, was responsible for, such as when it was the developerNothing
Legal and professional fees about who is liable for a defectNothing

Sources: Schedule 8, GOV.UK guidance.

Charges for this work that fell due since 28 June 2017 count towards the cap. If the owner on 28 June 2022 bought after 28 June 2017, only charges from their purchase count.

If the work costs more than leaseholders can be charged, GOV.UK says the building owner must make up the difference.

The deed of certificate and the landlord's certificate

The leaseholder deed of certificate is the leaseholder's signed statement, with evidence, that the lease met the test on 14 February 2022. It is signed as a deed in front of a witness, and GOV.UK says the landlord cannot charge for it.

When told about a sale, or on finding a relevant defect, the landlord must ask for a deed if it does not already have one. The leaseholder gets at least eight weeks to reply, plus four more weeks on request.

The landlord's certificate comes from the landlord within four weeks of being told about the sale. It says whether the landlord on 14 February 2022 passed the net worth test, or was linked to the developer.

If the landlord does not provide a valid certificate, the law treats it as responsible for the defects, so it cannot pass on the cost of fixing them. Your conveyancer will ask for both documents, and lenders accept the deed as evidence.

Sources: GOV.UK, deed of certificate FAQs, GOV.UK, mandatory information, SI 2022/859, SI 2022/711, regulation 6, GOV.UK FAQs.

If the seller has not completed a deed

The Act treats the lease as qualifying unless the landlord has taken all reasonable steps to get a deed and none has been provided. If the landlord asked and no deed came back in time, the lease is treated as if it does not qualify.

A lease treated that way loses the cladding exemption, the caps, and the nil charge for lower-value flats and for landlords that passed the net worth test.

Defects that the landlord, or a company linked to it, was responsible for still cannot be charged, because that rule applies to every lease in the building.

The deed is about the owner and their other homes on 14 February 2022, so the seller is best placed to complete it. A leaseholder can send one at any time, without waiting to be asked.

Our view: in a building of 11 metres or more, do not exchange until you have a copy of the completed deed and the landlord's certificate, and your conveyancer has checked them.

Sources: Schedule 8, paragraph 13, SI 2022/859, regulation 6, GOV.UK, mandatory information, GOV.UK, deed of certificate FAQs.

EWS1 forms and the new RICS standard

An EWS1 form records an expert's view of a building's outside walls for valuers and lenders. GOV.UK says it is not a legal requirement, and RICS says it is not a fire safety certificate.

RICS's second edition standard for valuing flats in buildings with cladding has applied since 1 November 2026. It says valuers should ask for an EWS1 only where there is a clear reason.

That reason is judged on the building's height, visible cladding, glazed curtain walls and some balcony designs, with different thresholds for over six storeys, five or six storeys, and four or fewer.

In some cases the valuer can rely instead on the summary of a fire risk appraisal of the external walls under PAS 9980. RICS also says buyers should get the building's fire risk assessment before buying.

Sources: RICS, GOV.UK FAQs.

What lenders ask for

Under a joint industry statement supported by UK Finance, the Building Societies Association and RICS, these lenders will lend on flats in buildings in England of 11 metres or more with safety issues:

  • Barclays
  • HSBC
  • Hodge Bank
  • Lloyds Banking Group
  • Nationwide
  • NatWest
  • Santander
  • Skipton Building Society
  • TSB
  • Virgin Money

They will lend where the building will be fixed by its developer or is in a government-funded scheme, or where the leaseholder is protected by the Act, as shown by a deed of certificate.

Each lender still applies its own criteria, so tell your broker about the building early.

Sources: UK Finance, Building Societies Association.

Buildings of 18 metres or seven storeys

In England, a building with at least two homes that is at least 18 metres high or has seven or more storeys is a higher-risk building. It must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator before people can live in it.

You can check a building by postcode on the regulator's public register. It names the principal accountable person, who is responsible for the structure and outside walls.

The regulator tells each building's principal accountable person when to apply for a building assessment certificate, which must be displayed in the building. The regulator describes it as a snapshot of the building's safety when assessed.

Residents must be given a summary of the fire risk assessment and of the safety case report, which covers the risks of fire spreading and structural failure. Ask the seller for what they have received.

Sources: GOV.UK, find a high-rise building, registering, information for residents, Building Safety Regulator.

Deadlines and new laws

In July 2025 the government said buildings of 18 metres or more with unsafe cladding should be fixed by the end of 2029, and those of 11 to 18 metres by the end of 2031, and promised a law to enforce this.

The bill introduced on 14 October 2026 would require those responsible to fix unsafe cladding as soon as reasonably practicable. On our reading of the government's guide to it, the bill does not put the 2029 or 2031 dates into law.

The government says it still expects every building over 11 metres with unsafe cladding to be fixed, or to have a completion date, by the end of 2029.

Building safety rules, as at 19 October 2026
ChangePosition
Leaseholder protectionsIn force since 28 June 2022
Registration of high-rise residential buildingsIn force
Building Safety LevyIn force from 1 October 2026 on new housing schemes of 10 or more homes. The client, usually the developer, pays, and the money goes on fixing building safety defects
RICS standard on when to ask for an EWS1In effect since 1 November 2026
Legal duty to fix unsafe claddingNot law. The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill was introduced on 14 October 2026
Caps on leaseholders' costs in WalesNot in force. The Welsh Government's consultation closed on 7 September 2026

Sources: GOV.UK, July 2025, plan update, GOV.UK, 14 October 2026, guide to the bill, Building Safety Levy.

The bill covers buildings in England over 11 metres or with at least five storeys, completed before 28 June 2022, outside the developer remediation contract. Its guide says leaseholders should not pay towards work under the duty.

Homes England's Cladding Safety Scheme already pays for eligible cladding work on buildings over 11 metres outside London, and 11 to 18 metres in London, whether or not the leaseholders have the legal protections.

In London, buildings over 18 metres are covered by the Building Safety Fund, run by the Greater London Authority.

Source: Cladding Safety Scheme.

Service charges

Ask the managing agent for the last three years' service charge accounts and the current budget. Look for fire safety costs, such as a waking watch, new alarms or higher insurance.

Ask what has been charged for historical safety work since 28 June 2017, because those charges can count towards the cap. For planned works, the landlord must consult leaseholders before charging any one of them more than £250.

Check the lease length too. See how many years should be left on a lease.

Sources: Schedule 8, GOV.UK, service charges.

If the flat is in Wales

The leaseholder protections in sections 116 to 125 of the 2022 Act cover buildings in England only.

In Wales, the Welsh Government says its Building Safety Fund gives every residential building of 11 metres and over a route to having fire safety problems fixed, including buildings with no identified developer and social housing.

It says leaseholders will not bear the cost of that work, but fire safety issues that come from maintenance, or from leaseholders' own actions, stay the leaseholders' responsibility.

Major developers, including Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Redrow, have signed a contract with the Welsh Government to fix fire safety problems in buildings they developed, at no cost to leaseholders.

The Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 became law on 27 April 2026. The Welsh Government has consulted on regulations under it to bar or cap leaseholders' share of repair costs. They were not in force on 19 October 2026.

Ask whether the building is in the fund or covered by a developer contract, and get the answer in writing.

Sources: gov.wales, Welsh Building Safety Fund, gov.wales, the 2026 Act, consultation, section 117.

Ask the seller and agent

  • Has the seller completed a leaseholder deed of certificate, and can I see it with the evidence?
  • Has the landlord issued a landlord's certificate for this sale?
  • Does the building have any known fire safety defects, and is it in a developer contract or a funded scheme?
  • When was the latest fire risk assessment, and can I see it?
  • Is there an EWS1 form or a PAS 9980 assessment of the outside walls?
  • How tall is the building, and is it registered with the Building Safety Regulator?
  • Does the building have a building assessment certificate, and what date is it?
  • What have leaseholders paid towards safety work since 28 June 2017?

Book a survey that suits the flat: see which survey you need. Take our house viewing checklist and questions to ask the estate agent to the viewing.

Related questions

Do the protections pass to me when I buy the flat?

Yes, if the lease qualified on 14 February 2022. GOV.UK says the protections transfer automatically to later buyers. The seller's deed of certificate is the record of the position on that date.

Is a newly built flat covered?

Usually not. The protections cover leases granted before 14 February 2022, and defects from work completed in the 30 years before 28 June 2022. For a new flat, ask about the new home warranty and the outside walls.

Is an EWS1 form a fire safety certificate?

No. RICS says it is not, and it does not replace a fire risk assessment. It is a form for valuers and lenders, so ask for the building's fire risk assessment as well.

Does the building have to be 18 metres tall for the protections to apply?

No. They apply from 11 metres or five storeys. The 18 metre or seven storey test decides which buildings must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator.

Sources