Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) and five of the other main UK mortgage providers have given some relief to flat owners in high-rise blocks blighted by cladding issues by offering loans again.
Owners of properties above 11 metres high will now be able to sell or re-mortgage their properties after years of effectively being prisoners in their own homes due to remediation work wrangling after the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander, as well as Lloyds, have said they will look at fresh mortgage applications from 9 January, 2023, after industry trade body, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) issued guidance on how to value affected properties.
Property owners will need to prove that any potentially hazardous cladding that has to be removed will be paid for by the developer, leaseholder or a government scheme to be eligible.
UK Finance said in a statement that the announcement was a “significant step to enable lending to recommence”.
“Lenders have confirmed that this will help to get the property market moving again by helping buyers and innocent leaseholders, who have been stuck for too long, to sell their homes,” added Lee Rowley, the housing minister.
Shares in Lloyds rose 1% to 45.5p.