Fire and building safety

We want to make sure our residents are safe in the building they live in. It’s why we’re doing everything we can to ensure East Village complies with all the Government guidance and regulations.

Most importantly, all homes at East Village are safe to occupy. Independent fire risk assessors continue to confirm that residents can safely remain in their homes while fire safety works progress, with a range of interim safety measures in place where required.

Our commitment to fire and building safety

Since the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, we’ve been on a journey to identify the building defects across the village and working to hold responsible parties accountable.

Building safety isn’t just about meeting regulations or fixing problems when they arise. It’s about actively managing risk, identifying potential issues early, putting the right controls in place, and continuously improving how we maintain our homes.

Working in partnership

We’re committed to delivering the highest standards of fire safety for residents in our homes and working in partnership is a key part of how we do this. By working closely with key stakeholders including EVML, Get Living, the fire and rescue services and other organisations, we’re better equipped to keep residents and communities safer.

Higher-risk buildings (HRB)

HRBs are buildings that are 18 metres or more in height or have seven storeys or more and contain at least two residential units.

The safety of residents is our highest priority. The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 was a watershed moment for the housing sector, prompting a fundamental cultural shift in how building and fire safety is understood, managed and communicated. In response, the government introduced legislation and oversight, including the Building Safety Act 2022 and the establishment of the Building Safety Regulator.

We want to clearly demonstrate how seriously we take our building safety responsibilities, and how we’re embedding a culture of proactive risk management and open engagement.

Guidance for leaseholders selling, staircasing or re-mortgaging

If you’re planning to change your mortgage, are thinking of selling or want to buy more shares in your home, you need to consider that many lenders have now made changes to their conditions.

Mortgage lenders are increasingly querying the make-up of external walls on buildings. These queries cover all building types and not just those with cladded materials on the exterior.

Some mortgage providers are currently asking for additional information about a building’s external wall system in an EWS1 form before they are willing to lend against it. EWS stands for External Wall System.

The latest Government advice is lenders shouldn’t ask for EWS1 forms on buildings below 18 metres. We welcome the announcement by the Secretary of State for Housing that government will encourage lenders to take a more proportionate approach to EWS1 forms.

We’re finding some mortgage lenders are requesting an EWS1 Form before signing off a mortgage. Depending on where you live, this may mean you’re not able to staircase, remortgage or sell your home at the current time.

However, not all mortgage lenders are applying the same criteria, so it is worth shopping around. This issue is unlikely to affect transactions where there is not a mortgage.

We realise this may be difficult news for our homeowners, and are very sorry this could leave you in a difficult position. Together with our partners in the sector, we’re doing everything we can to find a way forward with the Government.

We’re here to support you, we’d encourage any homeowner who’s looking to staircase, remortgage, or sell their property to contact us first before incurring any fees for legal or financial advice.