The Government's External Wall System (EWS) certification regime was intended to bring some Post-Grenfell clarity to purchasers, homeowners and lenders as to the state of external materials on buildings and potential cost of any necessary remediation.  The reality is somewhat different.  An interesting article in the Sunday Times of 9 May 2021 highlights several instances of  purchasers who have bought properties after an initial highly rated EWS showing little or no external cladding issue only to find that a subsequent EWS surveys shows a different less favourable position.   There are also several stories of Buyers having sales fall through for the same reason.

Changing Government advice following the launch of the EWS in December 2019  expanding the EWS to capture 1.27 million flats rather than 441,000 has only compounded the problem.

Urgent review is required so the EWS can provide the clarity around external materials on buildings that it was intended to provide in the first place.