The programme run by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and funded by government has received more than 1,200 registrations since being announced at the end of November.
At present barely 300 surveyors are qualified to assess cladding on the outside of buildings similar to that which caused the Grenfell Tower disaster, causing a massive backlog in reviews.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of properties are currently unable to be bought or sold leaving residents stuck in potentially dangerous buildings with escalating bills for waking watches and other safety measures.
It is hoped the wave of newly-qualified assessors will enable the EWS1 surveys which analyse the risks and necessary amendments for mortgage lenders to be completed far quicker.
Cladding consultation
RICS is also consulting on revisions to the guidelines for which multi-storey buildings need to be examined, which could also remove a significant proportion of properties from the EWS1 scope.
So far 390 responses have been received on the consultation with two thirds from leaseholders or prospective buyers and a third from industry professionals or firms, and the proposed guidance note has been downloaded more than 900 times.
RICS is aiming to formalise the guidance changes by the end of the month pending agreement with key stakeholders and its Independent Standards and Regulation Board.
A RICS spokeswoman told Mortgage Solutions: “To help address the acute market shortage of regulated professionals who can carry out EWS1 assessments, we’re delighted to see over 1,200 chartered surveyors register their interest for the EWS1 assessment training programme to date.
“The first group of 100 successful applicants started the programme last week, with more people being enrolled weekly.
“We look forward to supporting fire engineers in the task ahead and creating additional capacity in the market to help those who are waiting on an EWS1 assessment.”
