Right to Buy and Fast-Track urgent needed help please

Dizzy_mare · 6 February 2007 at 4:05PM

Hello, I found this site while I have been trying to find out where I stand with my "right to buy" that was going through with Fast-track.

Last summer we had a leaflet through our door from a company called Fast-Track http://www.fasttrack.uk.com/

Basically they sort out all of the paperwork, solicitors etc and arrange your mortgage even if you have rent arrears and a bad credit history (us

) For this they charge £3000 but part of the deal was that at each stage of the deal you receive a £500 voucher (totalling £2500) that can be redeemed at one of their participating companies towards double glazing, kitchen, holiday etc.

We signed up with them around July time (not exactly sure) and we finally got our offer from the council before Christmas and one of Fast-Tracks employees picked up the form promising to photocopy it and send the original back to us.

North Lincs council only give you 10 weeks to accept your offer (up on 5th march) and Fast-Track lost out paper work, meaning that time is now running very short as everything had to be resent from the council.

Last week we had a mortgage offer from them, 7.1% fixed rate for 3 years, lousy I know but we have bad credit history

The Man arranging the mortgage is getting quite insistent but we have been trying to get the details of the voucher scheme out of Fast-Track to see whether the whole thing will be affordable for us, and they keep passing the buck, saying that so and so will phone us back etc....... This morning the mortgage guy (whom I don't think works for FT but must be on a commission or something) rang again and asked what is holding us up. I explained that we are waiting to here from FT about the vouchers and that we have only received 2 of them (should have had 3 by now) and he said that he heard that they have discontinued the voucher scheme :mad:

I called FT and apparently the manager was in a meeting and would call me back - still waiting for him. I then called trading standards, they say that they think that as I have the details of the voucher scheme in writing as well as a letter stating that our others would be sent out to us that they should have to honour them as they were an incentive for going with FT, but that if there was any problems that as a financial company I would have to go through the banking ombudsman instead of TS.

Does anyone have any advice for me? We have debts of £5000 on CC and loans which we wanted to clear, as well as replacing all our old draughty metal framed windows, I have my beautiful rescue horse who needs expensive scans done at the vets as we think she is either having some kind of fits or a brain problem of some kind, we have a big vet bill up to now with still no answers

My OH works but isn't on a great wage, I have ME and am up and down like a yoyo at the moment so no way am I employable

If we managed to pay off the CC and loans we would be able to manage the mortgage ok.

Sorry for the long confusing post, I am worried about my mare and it's effecting the ME (ie slipping a few more brain cells away :lol )
Angela

Doozergirl · 6 February 2007 at 4:26PM

I'm sorry I can't help on the Fast Track thing, except to say that I've no doubt they're ripping you off

I'm not sure that buying a house would be the best option in your current circumstances. Taking on more debt is not really dealing with the situation, you have to address the reasons why you're going into debt, otherwise you will just start accumulating more once you've consolidated. Have you had a look at the Debt Free Wannabe board? There's a great support network and if you're brave enough to post your state of affairs, everyone will come rushing to tell you how you can save money

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=76

7.1% is a crazy rate for a mortgage; Are you sure that your rent costs more than that?

tanith · 6 February 2007 at 4:27PM

If you can only manage to pay the mortgage if you pay off the loan and CC how are you proposing to do this?.... You say your debt is £5000 and even if you get the vouchers they only total £2500 plus on top you have a vets bill and the costs involved with buying a house... the figures just don't add up....

I think you need to look at other options first

JasonLVC · 6 February 2007 at 4:56PM

After the 10 weeks have gone, you still have the right to buy (RTB), just the council will start the process from scratch and book another valuation to be made so all you will loose is the increase in the value of the property between when it was first valued and the next time - it will be less than £500 trust me as it's a council house! so don't get bothered by the DEADLINE. They're isn't one. You can do this as many times as you like and the price may go up a few hundred quid. No cost at all, council provide the valuation and service for free.

Cashbacks in any finance deal (insurance, mortgage, credit card, etc) are always designed to sucker you in. Trust me again, you are being mightily ripped off. I am an ex-RTB Manager for a Council and know the score.

So far the council hasn;t charged you anything. A good solicitor will handle the legal aspect of the transaction for around £500 - the council will pay for their solicitor costs (there side of the paperwork) and your solicitor transfer the monies and deeds form this fee. Solcitor can also do searches of the land registry to see if there are plans to build a sewerage works next door!. Again, you can do a local property search for about £6 - go in to council house, ask to see the register, pay your £6 and you'll see what planning restrictions or future plans may affect your house- if at all.

So far, then we're upto £506. The final bit is the hardest bit, the mortgage itself. Can you visit another website called - I need to check this so I'll post this below in a minute - which allows you to search online for mortgages if you have a bad credit rating. You'll get a mortgage around 7% upto 10% - no cashback, but no £3,000 upfront charges either!!. There may be an admin fee as with most mortgages of between £500-£800 but if we take it as £800 and add to £506 we've got a total house buying cost of £1,306 - which is about half the £3,000 you;ve been quoted. if you haven't got the £1,306 then just borrow this amount extra on your mortgage.

However....

Buying a house, even a heavily discounted council house is a big deal and you've got to be 100% money savvy to do it. Are you?. I wouldn;t recommend it for the following reasons :-

1. As a council tenant, they'll cut you some slack if you miss some rent payments. The mortgage lender will not. Goodbye housey. If you are evicted due to non-payment, the council will consider this a deliberate act of making yourself homeless and so are not obliged to re-house you. So you'll have to go to private sector renting and that's expensive.

2. The rent may be less than your monthly mortgage payment. Don;t get suckered into job protection insurance unless you can afford it and they sometimes make the monthly payments the same as your rent by making the mortgage over 35 years instead of the normal 25.

3. If you don't work, you're likely getting disability benefit which will also give you rent allowance (ie, a subsidy off your rent). Once you have a mortgage you will lose any rent/housing benefit you may already be getting. factor that into your overall monthly costs.

4. People make the mistake of buying out their debt on CC by getting a mortgage as the repayments are over a much longer period, this is fine, but the stakes are much higher. Miss payments and the bank will look to take the house off you - so be very sure you can afford this, come what may.

Sorry this is a long post but there's a lot to write. One final thing. With you not working now is not the time to buy a council house. As this is a money saving site, I strongly urge you NOT to buy the house yet. You sound as if you are not good with money by the way you are wanting to upgrade the house before you;ve even bought it. Remember, all of this will cost you via the mortgage payment. Most people can abrely afford the mortgage, yet alone adding another £10k to clear debts and improve the property.

All council houses have to achieve certain living standards and so major work like kitchens and windows will be done by them. Once you buy, you get no help. Certainly check to see if there is an upgrade programme due in your area as it may be worth hanging on, getting them to do upgrades and then buy house.

There is no rush, right to buy will always be there and values will not increase too much as council houses are not valued the same way as 'normal market properties' due to stigma attached to council houses.

I hope your horsey gets better. Tell these clowns to shove off, the vouchers will likely be in over-priced stores in which they have a related interest or have a minimum spend (ie, get £500 off when you spend £1000) - either way drop these people now, do it yourself as per my guide above, save a few grand and buy your house only if you are comfortable with the responsibility of a mortgage.

Good luck. take care.

JasonLVC · 6 February 2007 at 6:33PM

The website is https://www.moneyexpert.co.uk (a bit cheeky that to be honest!) - its a comparrions website but for bad credit history folk.

Please don't consolidate your debts by getting a huger debt (a mortgage) and what's the point of spending another £3k on windows if you can't afford to keep up with the repayments. Big decisions here, so please OP, just don't get swept along by the cheesy salesman who's only after your commission.

These companies leaflet council tenants who weren't even thinking of buying beore they got the leaflet and then are told how great it is to be a home owner (and it is), but only those with money can do it right and safely. Your ME will get a lot worse if you're suffering from stress too.

Credit rating are there to tell you to stop and think about it before proceeding - sorry to lecture (I'm dead nice, honest!) but seen many a council tenant buy their house from OceanFinance and those other firms who charge huge admin costs of £3k when the real cost is a few hundred pounds and the threat of you not getting a mortgage anywhere else - actually it's quite a competitive market poor credit hisotry mortgages, and within 8 months are homeless as they just couldn;t afford it and the council would just turn them away.

seven-day-weekend · 6 February 2007 at 6:52PM

Totally agree with Jason, get rid of that company and don't buy your house until you have cleared your debt.

hearts · 6 February 2007 at 9:18PM

You are and were being ripped off. This could easily have been done yourself and saved you 3 grand.

...and shoot the horse. Your in dept and you have a horse?????

JasonLVC · 7 February 2007 at 9:31AM

Dizzy-Mare,

Do post here again or PM if the finance company give you any hassle when you try to pull out of the deal. As a registered money lender they will have certain obligations and rules to follow and one will be to not harras or threaten a client or potential client.

Many many house deals fall through at the last minute, some dry rot not spotted before, a dispute with the seller (the council), etc and so there are many excuses you can use to stop this deal without any fear of penalty - they'll try to tell you you're committed but call their bluff - their contract is not worth the paper it is written on, they haven't provided you all the details (vouchers, etc - failure 1), if they do all the hardwork for £3k then they should be chasing the council, not you - failure 2) and so they've failed you - not to mention the likelyhood that if questioned by the ombudsman, they could not justify giving a mortgage to someone such as yourself with such debts, etc and so they'll just let you walk away. Honest.

I used to get loads of tenants being approached and wanting to buy a house - single parents on benefits, old folks, disabled people - the lot, basically, the last people in the world who should be having mortgages at that exact time in their lives. Grrrrrr:mad:

Rick62 · 7 February 2007 at 12:28PM

There are a number of companies like fasttrack, and as other posters have said they are a scam. You need a good lawyer (about £500) and a good whole of market mortgage broker (fees free or low fee, say £200 to £300).

Its a shame that a scheme set up to assit people often in most need and often not financially very experienced is being hi-jacked by little better than conmen.

Right to Buy and Fast-Track urgent needed help please

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