WhenFresh National Cladding Dataset expanded to cover 1,122,004 dwellings in buildings of 18m+ and 11-18m in height.

London – May 2023:  Having launched the UK’s first National Cladding Dataset in February 2023 (See initial launch release here), WhenFresh has announced that the dataset has now more than doubled in size to provide the current cladding status of 1,122,004 individual properties within tall multi-dwelling units (MDUs) across the UK.

The National Cladding Dataset was launched in February, initially providing the cladding status of 485,234 individual dwellings within MDUs of 18m or more in height – but this has now been expanded to the current total of 1,122,004 dwellings with the addition of MDUs of less than 18m and, in particular, those of 11m-18m in height, which fall into the Government’s ‘Mid-Rise Scheme’ for remediation.

WhenFresh also stresses that this is a LIVE dataset, with monthly updates from the rolling program of property inspections that are carried out by the team of over 600 RICS qualified surveyors – employing both physical property visits and expert, remote/data-driven assessments.

This means that the cladding status of each of dwelling is constantly updated with additional dwellings also being added as inspections continue to be undertaken. The surveyor team has allocated each dwelling a cladding status, based on the following classification:

GREEN – Building has no cladding. (Specifically: EWS1 form recorded in Cladding Database with classification A1, A2 or B1 or considered to be out of scope as per RICS’s Cladding Guidance Note).

AMBER – Building potentially has cladding, merits EWS1 inspection. (Identified as potentially in scope, as per the RICS’s Cladding Guidance Note, no EWS1 form held currently).

RED – Building has cladding. (EWS1 form recorded in Cladding Database with classification A3 or B2, or other known adverse factors from alternative sources).   

Due to the nature of the dataset and the rolling program of surveyor inspections, the cladding status of each dwelling is subject to change over time.

For example:  A dwelling may originally have been categorised as AMBER, where the surveyor’s original inspection using a range of remote tools (e.g. satellite images, drone footage etc…) and data sources (e.g. building records) was not fully conclusive.  

The cladding status of this dwelling may subsequently be updated to RED, following a surveyor visit as part of the rolling, physical property inspection program.

Then, once remediation work has been carried out and confirmed on the building in which this dwelling is located, the cladding status can be changed to GREEN.

In the brief time since the launch of the original National Cladding Dataset in February 2023, and the subsequent dataset expansion, driven mainly by the inclusion of MDUs of 11-18m in height, there have already been significant cladding status movements due to physical inspections or remediations, namely:

> 40047 dwellings have been updated from AMBER to GREEN cladding status

> 23933 dwellings have been updated from AMBER to RED cladding status

> 10019 dwellings have been updated from RED to GREEN cladding status

In addition to the RED/AMBER/GREEN cladding status classification, The WhenFresh National Cladding Dataset can also supply the following where available:

> The date on which the EWS1 was signed.
> The EWS1 classification: A1, A2, A3, B1 or B2.
> Any expert notes/covering letter provided by the RICS surveyors pertaining to each inspection.

The WhenFresh UK National Cladding Dataset can be appended at individual dwelling level, to any file of addresses (or UPRNs, UDPRNs, Title numbers etc…) for flat-file delivery, or can be accessed via the WhenFresh API, either in isolation, or in combinations with any of the 100s of other property data items WhenFresh holds.

Mark Cunningham, WhenFresh CEO & co-Founder states: “We expected the original cladding dataset launch to be well received, but we’ve been staggered by the level of interest from mortgage lenders, insurers, reinsurers and other parties.  We’re therefore fully confident that the investments made in expanding the reach, breadth and depth of the dataset as it continues to evolve, will bring significant further benefits and risk insights for those who need to properly understand property cladding risk.”