Almost nine out of ten property professionals believe that the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) guidance on cladding has had a positive impact.

When asked if the latest RICS cladding guidance has helped, an overwhelming majority of 88% suggested that it has, with only 12% responding negatively. From an educational perspective, it was also encouraging to see that 82% of respondents had heard of this guidance prior to the webinar. 18% reported having no previous knowledge.

RICS issued the updated guidance for the valuation of multi-storey buildings in December 2022, which it said would bring clarity and confidence to the mortgage market.

A further poll taken during the webinar outlined that 42% of property professionals have noticed a market returning for flats, while 58% reporting that they had seen no difference in this area of the housing market.

These responses emerged at Countrywide Surveying Services’ latest webinar which focused on the aforementioned RICS guidance, what it means and how it will impact lending and valuing flats affected by potentially defective cladding.

Over 400 people actively engaged with the session, with the audience consisting of lenders, brokers, surveyors and other property professionals. The panel included Ben Elder, Global Director of Valuation at RICS, Rob Mead, Technical Director at Connells Survey and Valuation, a representative from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities and Claire Cummins, Senior Manager, Consumer Lending, at Lloyds Banking Group.

The session was hosted by John Baguley – Director of Technical, Risk and Compliance, Countrywide Surveying Services

John Baguley, director of technical, risk and compliance, Countrywide Surveying Services, which carried out the study, commented: “The cladding issue has been prominent across the housing and mortgage markets for a number of years now, causing emotional and financial concern for all too many homeowners.

“Thankfully, several key developments have happened recently. From different avenues opening up to pay for remediation works, through to the latest RICS guidance which has been specifically developed to reflect the new funding streams with the intention of allowing valuing and lending to happen again.

“While it’s great to see some positive solutions emerge for everyone connected to this building safety nightmare, we – as an industry – need to continue pushing hard to ensure that anyone affected by this issue is fully aware of any current and future changes and the impact on the market for such properties.”