Imagine waking up one day to hear the property you own is now valued at £0 https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😱" title="Vor Angst schreiendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Vor Angst schreiendes Gesicht">

Well it’s happening and a massive 500,000 people are said to be affected

Following the Grenfell tragedy the EWS1 process was launched to see if buildings were built with correct building materials

The launch of the External Wall Fire Review (EWS1) was intended to provide peace of mind for residents & mortgage lenders alike

However, it was initially intended for blocks over 18 metres and a lot of confusion came in when governments recommends it for all blocks of flats

This has had a domino effect as many mortgage lenders are demanding that a flat has an EWS1 certificate before lending on it. In /some cases where there is no EWS1 certificate the property is valued at £0

This presents a very uncomfortable scenario for some homeowners as not only have they come to the realisation that their property is not safe, they will also be reluctant to sell at a cut throat price

Getting an EWS1 is also very difficult with many people saying that the freeholder is almost impossible to get hold of

Following this the remedial work can take years

This is a very sticky situation and people are calling o the government to step in - there seems to be a lot of focus on building new homes and not on bringing older properties to an acceptable and safe standard