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What is the EWS1 form? The EWS1 is a form introduced as part of a new External Wall Fire Review process valuing high-rise buildings. The EWS1 form was introduced in December 2019 in response to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The form designates whether the external wall of a building, or attachments to the external wall such as cladding, are at low risk for fire. The result of a form is used by mortgage lenders in decision-making regarding buying, selling, mortgaging and re-mortgaging properties within that building. If a form...

Social media posts fired off in anger can have grave legal consequences even if they are swiftly taken down. In an extreme case on point, a man who revealed his niece's history of mental illness and self-harm to the world online was ordered to pay her substantial compensation for the hurt and distress she suffered. The niece, a young graduate, had endured deeply troubled teenage years but hoped that she had put her mental health difficulties behind her. Her uncle's Facebook post was made in the context of a bitter...

Prioritising prompt payment of your tax bills can be tough, particularly when there are other compelling and unforeseen demands on your limited resources. In a case on point, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) came to the aid of a man who dipped into his tax reserve to pay for his elderly mother's care after she suffered a stroke. After his mother fell ill, the man had to move to be closer to her. She had insufficient income to pay all of her nursing home fees so, with no support from his...

Oliver Fisher trainee Nilaufar Alothiya has successfully overturned a decision that her client was non-priority need for housing, following a homelessness application to the City of Westminster. Details of the homelessness application Ms Alothiya, under the supervision of Ms Martha Mpangile, represented a client who had been living with her mother in a one-bedroom flat since June 2019. The flat was overcrowded, and when it was no longer possible for the client to remain, she made a homelessness application to her local Housing Solutions Service. Although the service acknowledged that the client...