Santander will update its cladding policy for mortgage applications against properties of 11 metres or higher in England to align with revised guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The bank will no longer require cladding questions to be answered and it will value more properties without holding mortgage funds.
It said this would apply to most properties in England, but also noted it could not confirm which specific properties would benefit from the change.
Santander will no longer need an EWS1 form unless it is asked for and the conveyancer will need to confirm that there are no cladding costs to pay.
This policy applies from 9 January.
Santander has followed Lloyds Banking Group in becoming the latest lender to update its policy regarding cladding.
In December, RICS issued guidance for how properties with cladding should be valued, in a move which it said would bring confidence to the mortgage market. This factored in whether property owners had applied for funding for remediation and acknowledged that any remediation costs for leaseholders would be capped, as stated in the Building Safety Act.
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Natwest and Santander later announced that they supported the change and would begin to lend on properties in need of cladding remediation.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
