HELP- can we challenge mortgage retainer?

FTB30

Hello- I am new to this site and would really appreciate some advice,

My fiance and I are first time buyers and had an offer accepted on a house November last year. It's a 2bed house with garden in SW London that was on market for £275k and we had offer of £245k accepted, so were very pleased (or so we thought)!

There was a crack under the front window so mortgage company requested a Structural Engineers Report. This came back saying there was no evidence of subsidence and that any movement could have been caused by a blocked drain. Struc Engineer also suggested tying in one of the walls, replacing three roof tiles and repairing a dropped window arch on the back of the house, however he stressed that the roof tiles and window arch were not urgent projects. He also identified that the lounge floor was sloping towards the back of the house but couldn't work out why (vendor has carpet, furniture etc over this area).

Mortgage company then requested a drain survey, this came back with no problems.

Mortgage company then requested a quote from the structural engineer for how much the work mentioned above would cost. Unfortunately for us his quote came back very vague, he said £1-5k each for tying in walls, replacing roof tiles & repairing window arch. He then said the living room floor would cost between £1- £5k but could be more than £10k.

We expected a retainer but mortgage company have decided to hold back £15k, so effectively £30k (which we can't afford). They have requested proof that we have this money and have told us that we cannot take out a loan or borrow this money, that it has to be 'gifted' to us and they will need to see evidence (??) of this.

I just have a few questions if any of you are able to give me some advice:

1. Can we request that the vendor moves their furniture and lifts the carpet in the corner of the living room so that we actually get someone in to try and find out why the living room floor is sloping.

2. If we were lucky enough to get the vendor to drop the price £15k, would we still have to find £30k, or would we then only need the £15k to do the work?

3. If we were able to borrow the money from someone, how would we prove to the mortgage company that we are not going to pay it back?

4. Can we get other (more definite) quotes for the works and try and convince the mortgage company to reduce the retainer?

I would be so grateful to anyone who has any advice as we are really struggling to move forward with this and we absolutely love the house.

thank-you

Doozergirl

1. Can we request that the vendor moves their furniture and lifts the carpet in the corner of the living room so that we actually get someone in to try and find out why the living room floor is sloping.
Yes, of course you can.

2. If we were lucky enough to get the vendor to drop the price £15k, would we still have to find £30k, or would we then only need the £15k to do the work?
It would depend on the mortgage company's decision. It will depend on the size of your deposit and the LTV but I think that they would still withhold at least part of that amount because it's structural and could worsen.

3. If we were able to borrow the money from someone, how would we prove to the mortgage company that we are not going to pay it back?
Best to ask the lender exactly what proof they'd want. Probably in the form of a letter saying that they don't require the money back. Someone would have to really love you though!
Shame isn't it that they won't let you borrow the money from someone else so that you can then borrow the money from them

4. Can we get other (more definite) quotes for the works and try and convince the mortgage company to reduce the retainer?
You can try. If their surveyor knows the issue with the floor properly, they may reduce their estimate which might be more helpful to you.

FTB30

Thank you very much for your advice, that's really helpful.