Selling a flat with cladding

You can sell a flat in a building with cladding, but your buyer's lender will want to know whether the external walls are safe, and if not, who is paying to fix them. That can slow a sale down. The documents that matter most are usually an EWS1 form or a fire risk appraisal of the external walls and, in England, the certificates showing whether your flat is covered by the Building Safety Act protections. Qualifying leaseholders in England pay nothing to fix unsafe cladding, and that protection passes to whoever buys your flat.

This guide covers what buyers and lenders look for, the leaseholder protections, who pays for repairs, and your options for selling. The Building Safety Act protections and the Cladding Safety Scheme apply in England only; there's a section on Wales below. It's general information, not legal advice, and the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) gives free initial advice.

Can you sell a flat with cladding?

Yes. Flats in clad buildings do sell, but buyers' lenders and solicitors ask more questions. They want to know:

• whether the external walls are safe, or what needs fixing
• who is paying for any work, and when it will happen
• whether the flat is covered by the leaseholder protections
• what the service charge is now, and whether it's likely to rise

The sooner you can answer those questions with documents, the smoother the sale.

What is an EWS1 form?

An EWS1 (External Wall System) form records a professional's review of a building's external walls. RICS, the surveyors' professional body, says it's intended for valuation and lending purposes only. It isn't a fire safety certificate and doesn't replace a fire risk assessment.

There's no legal requirement to have one when you sell. Lenders set their own policies, and some ask for an EWS1 so their valuer can value the flat. It covers the whole building, so ask your managing agent or building owner whether one exists.

From 1 November 2026, a new RICS standard tells valuers to ask for an EWS1 only where there's a clear reason, based on things like the building's height, visible cladding, curtain wall glazing and certain types of balcony. In some cases, a summary of a fire risk appraisal of external walls (an "FRAEW", carried out to the PAS 9980 standard) can be used instead, as long as it clearly says whether work is needed and is signed by a suitably qualified professional.

The Building Safety Act protections (England)

Since 28 June 2022, the Building Safety Act 2022 has protected many leaseholders in England from the cost of fixing historical safety defects.

Does your lease qualify?

Your lease is a "qualifying lease" if all of these apply:

• the building is over 11 metres tall or has at least five storeys
• it's a long lease (over 21 years) of a single flat, and you pay a service charge
• the lease was granted before 14 February 2022
• on 14 February 2022, the flat was the leaseholder's main home, or they owned no more than three UK homes in total

GOV.UK has an online leaseholder protections checker if you're not sure.

What the protections cover

Cost	What a qualifying leaseholder pays
Fixing unsafe cladding	Nothing
Other historical safety defects, flat worth under £175,000 (under £325,000 in London)	Nothing
Other historical safety defects, most other flats	Capped at £10,000 (£15,000 in London)
Other historical safety defects, flat worth over £1 million	Capped at £50,000
Other historical safety defects, flat worth over £2 million	Capped at £100,000

"Other historical safety defects" includes interim measures such as waking watches. The flat's value is taken as at 14 February 2022. Any capped amount is spread over 10 years, and payments made since 28 June 2017 count towards the cap. If the building owner's group was worth more than £2 million per relevant building on 14 February 2022, qualifying leaseholders pay nothing towards these costs.

If your lease doesn't qualify, you're protected from cladding costs only if the building owner is, or is linked to, the developer. Otherwise you're liable under the terms of your lease.

The protections pass to your buyer

GOV.UK says the protections transfer automatically to future buyers of a qualifying lease, whatever the buyer's own circumstances. If a qualifying lease is extended, varied or replaced, the protections carry on too.

The flip side is that a lease's status is fixed on 14 February 2022. If yours doesn't qualify (for example, you're a landlord who owned more than three UK homes on that date), it stays non-qualifying when you sell, even if your buyer would otherwise have qualified. Buyers and lenders will factor that in.

Who pays to fix the cladding?

In England, it depends on the building:

• The developer, if it signed the government's developer remediation contract. Developers who signed have agreed to fix life-critical fire safety defects in buildings they built or refurbished in England in the 30 years up to 4 April 2022.
• The Cladding Safety Scheme, run by Homes England, where no responsible developer can be found or made to pay. Since 1 September 2025 it has been the single government scheme for buildings over 11 metres in England, including London, after the Building Safety Fund closed to new applications.
• The building owner, for costs the protections don't let it pass on to leaseholders.

Only the building owner or another "responsible entity" (such as a resident management company or right to manage company) can apply to the Cladding Safety Scheme, not individual leaseholders. If yours hasn't applied, GOV.UK suggests asking them to, and you can tell the government about the building through its "Tell Us" tool.

Will buyers be able to get a mortgage?

GOV.UK lists lenders, including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide and Santander, that have agreed to lend on flats in buildings over 11 metres in England where the work is funded by the developer or a government scheme, or where the leaseholder has completed a deed of certificate showing the protections apply. Each lender still applies its own criteria, so your buyer's broker should check early.

The certificates buyers will ask for

• Leaseholder deed of certificate. This is your formal statement of whether your lease qualifies. If the landlord asks for one, you must be given at least 8 weeks to reply. If you don't provide it, the lease is treated as not qualifying. You can also complete one at any time, and it can be used as evidence for lenders.
• Landlord's certificate. When you tell your landlord you're selling, they must give you a landlord's certificate within 4 weeks. It sets out the landlord's information about the building and whether it is liable for repair costs. If the landlord doesn't provide a valid one, it can't pass remediation costs on to leaseholders.

Flats in buildings under 11 metres

The Building Safety Act caps above don't apply to buildings under 11 metres (and under five storeys). The government says these buildings are less likely to need costly work, and where work is needed, cheaper measures are often more appropriate. The Cladding Safety Scheme can also fund some buildings under 11 metres where a fire risk appraisal finds a serious, life-critical risk from the cladding. Claims under the Defective Premises Act can reach back up to 30 years in some cases, so get advice if you're facing a big bill.

Flats in Wales

The leaseholder protections and caps described above, and the Cladding Safety Scheme, apply in England only. The Welsh Government runs its own building safety programme. Its Welsh Building Safety Fund supports surveys of medium and high-rise buildings, and only the building's responsible person can apply. Ask your managing agent what stage your building has reached, and get legal advice on what you could be asked to pay.

Your options for selling

Route	Price	Speed	Suits
Wait until the works are done, then sell	Usually the highest, once the building is fixed	Depends on when the works finish	Owners who don't need to move
Sell now through an estate agent	Depends on the paperwork and on lenders	Often slower than a normal sale	Qualifying leases with funded works or a clear EWS1 or FRAEW
Auction	Uncertain, plus fees	Weeks once listed	Flats where lenders are holding back
Cash house buyer	Below market value	Can be a few weeks	Owners who need certainty or a set date

When an estate agent is likely to get you more: your lease qualifies, the works are funded or finished, lenders are lending on the building, and you can wait for the right buyer. In that case, the open market is usually the better route.

When a quick sale can make sense: the works aren't funded yet, timescales are unclear, your lease doesn't qualify for the protections, or you need to move by a set date. We buy flats as they are across England and Wales, make an offer within 24 hours and pay your legal fees. Our offer is below market value, we explain how we worked it out, and you're under no obligation to accept.

Checklist before you sell

• Your leaseholder deed of certificate, and any request for one from the landlord
• The landlord's certificate (ask for it as soon as you decide to sell)
• An EWS1 form or FRAEW summary for the building, if there is one
• The latest update on the works and how they're funded (developer or Cladding Safety Scheme)
• The building's fire risk assessment, which RICS advises buyers to get before they buy
• Service charge accounts, the current budget and any notices about major works
• The lease and the title register

For the rest of the leasehold paperwork, see selling a leasehold flat, and for the information buyers expect to see in a listing, see material information when selling.