Nationwide refuses first time buyers

HangTime

Thread title is a bit misleading and sensationalist, although the issue is of course worth discussing.

We bought a new build (house) a couple of months back and iirc our lender wanted a fairly low LTV, I don't recall exactly as we were porting an existing mortgage.

New builds can be problematic in valuation terms because there is often limited information about the area (e.g. it's a completely new street/postcode, so the ceiling price is unknown). If the house is being bought off a plan, that's another hurdle. Then you need to factor in the fact that some people may have negotiated better discounts/deals than others - in theory this shouldn't matter (i.e. the valuation should be independent of sale price), but we all know it doesn't always work like that. Developers sell the same house type in the same street at different prices, I mean you only have to look at the difference between their list prices, and what houses actually sell for.

I was resigned to the fact that my property would drop in value the day I moved in, that's just the way it is. Apart from anything else, some people just like the idea of a 'brand new' house, no major works needed, any faults have to be rectified by the developer etc. A 'second hand' house on the other hand you don't know the history of, what's lurking under the floorboards or behind that coat of paint. You get to choose your fixtures/fittings/decor etc. So I suspect the market value for my house has dropped 15% in a couple of months due to being secondhand, meaning that had we bought it at 85% LTV, it'd only be a shade under 100% LTV today.

Dan_1976

Somebody is telling a porky, most lenders put this in place last year, and some 2007. I think somebody made a cockup!