LTV 122% - Halifax wont let me fix at the moment

Greenr

Hi all

My two year fixed rate comes to an end this June. It is the end of our first fixed rate as we were first time buyers two years ago.

I just called our mortgage provider, Halifax, to ask what type of deal we'd be offered as existing customers and they said that my LTV is 122% therefore I cannot fix with them at the moment. They only offer fixed rates to those up to 120% LTV :eek:

My options are:

• Revert to the SVR from June and overpay hoping that the SVR doesn't go up and my LTV doesn't get any higher
• Make a lump sum payment of a few thousand to bring me into the bracket to allow me to fix with the halifax now.
• Arrange for my property to be re-valued at a cost of £100 hoping that it is valued higher than Halifax say that it's worth so that I can fix with them now

When we bought our property two years ago, it was in a state and we completely gutted the place, new kitchen, flooring, decorating, bathroom. The halifax are basing their current valuation on the purchase price but we had it valued once we had finished doing it up and were told that it was worth £18k more than the price we paid.

Can anyone offer any advice as to what to do or what steps to take next? How can I find out the history of the Halifax's SVR?!

Any advice appreciated...

maninthestreet

Their current SVR is 3.50% - what is your current fixed rate deal that is ending soon?
How much did you pay for your property when you bought it, and what was the LTV then?

Greenr

maninthestreet wrote: »

Their current SVR is 3.50% - what is your current fixed rate deal that is ending soon?
How much did you pay for your property when you bought it, and what was the LTV then?

Our current fixed rate is 6.01% which ends in June this year. We paid 67,450 for our property in May 07 and put down a 3% deposit. We had it re-valued after refurbishment in Sep 07 and were told by a local estate agent that it was worth between 80 and 85k....

opinions4u

Greenr wrote: »

My two year fixed rate comes to an end this June. It is the end of our first fixed rate as we were first time buyers two years ago.

I just called our mortgage provider, Halifax, to ask what type of deal we'd be offered as existing customers and they said that my LTV is 122% therefore I cannot fix with them at the moment. They only offer fixed rates to those up to 120% LTV

They are not obligated to offer any deals to anybody. The 120% thing is actually more generous than most other lenders

My options are:

• Revert to the SVR from June and overpay hoping that the SVR doesn't go up and my LTV doesn't get any higher
• Make a lump sum payment of a few thousand to bring me into the bracket to allow me to fix with the halifax now.
• Arrange for my property to be re-valued at a cost of £100 hoping that it is valued higher than Halifax say that it's worth so that I can fix with them now

• Not sure why you are asking for advice when you know what your options are.

When we bought our property two years ago, it was in a state and we completely gutted the place, new kitchen, flooring, decorating, bathroom. The halifax are basing their current valuation on the purchase price but we had it valued once we had finished doing it up and were told that it was worth £18k more than the price we paid.

This suggests that it's worth paying the £100 for Halifax to revalue your house assuming the fixed deals they have available are more attractive than the much more fleixble 3.5% standard variable rate.

How can I find out the history of the Halifax's SVR?!

Ring them and ask them for it. They have it on their system. 08457 27 37 47. Typically 1.75%-2.25% above BofE. Currently 3% above BofE with most mortgages capping it at BofE+3%.

hearts

The SVR looks good. Your lucky your not with one of the more greedy banks. ;-)

beecher

Greenr wrote: »

Hi all
Can anyone offer any advice as to what to do or what steps to take next? How can I find out the history of the Halifax's SVR?!

Any advice appreciated...

Look at your yearly statements for recent SVR - it was over 7% until fairly recently.

Have a look at

http://www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages/existing-customer-fixed-95ltv.asp

to see what you could be on and work out if it is worth fixing, even if they do allow it after re-evaluation. The fees are high so you'll need to factor that in too. Staying on the SVR and overpaying like mad might well be worth while if your confident that another lender would value your property higher than Halifax do presently, and that you could get your LTV down to 90%.

happybroker

I had stopped posting on this site but the wife's on holiday and I'm wating on a couple of calls so had to have a look!

Who organised your mortgage for you?

Hfx have a really good retention policy. Your broker, if you used one, can sort you out with a new deal should you want one. You may have to pay enough off the loan to get the ltv to 95% of the original valuation and then you have either trackers or fixed deals available. Hfx won't carry out a new val or want any further proof of income. Your broker will even get full commission!! If he/ she wants a fee I would have to wonder why as it takes about 20 minutes to sort the basics out.

The fixed deals are not gonna blow your mind at over 5% (with a £1249 fee) but have a think about where you see interest rates going over the next couple of years and also how much stability you need in your budget each month. Trackers are a couple of % lower than this but the value for money could be erroded by future rises.

All the best with it.

beecher

happybroker, I don't think you could've read the thread properly. The OP knows that she needs an LTV of 120% and has 122% - Halifax don't require 95% LTV for existing customers, and don't use the original valuation, they use the current one. The OP wants a new valuation done!

happybroker

Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick, op says put down a 3% deposit in post 3.

If they can reduce the 97% loan to 95% (£1338 assuming they are on interest only) the would be ok. Halifax will use old val;


"PRODUCT TRANSFER INVOLVES NO LEGAL COSTS AND NO VALUATION IS CARRIED OUT."

This is from their published criteria.

Again, apologies if I've missed something else.

beecher

happybroker wrote: »

Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick, op says put down a 3% deposit in post 3.

If they can reduce the 97% loan to 95% (£1338 assuming they are on interest only) the would be ok. Halifax will use old val;


"PRODUCT TRANSFER INVOLVES NO LEGAL COSTS AND NO VALUATION IS CARRIED OUT."

This is from their published criteria.

Again, apologies if I've missed something else.

They don't use the old valuation - they use their own index to work out the present valuation. I've been with Halifax for 13 years and they've always done this, and when I renewed my deal a couple of weeks they did the same. They have obviously done this with the OP too since they state their LTV is now 122% according to the Halifax's own figures.

happybroker

obviously I don't have the experience of going directly to the halifax as a borrower as I have never borrowed any money from them but I have (off the top of my head) put 3 product transfers with them in the last 2 weeks for clients coming to the end of their deals in July.

I didn't place any of these mortgages with Halifax originally and when I key in the transfer it tells me what the "indexed" valuation is. For example (and these are real figures) current loan amount is £112511, current "indexed" val is £103920, original val was £130,000. Hfx confirmed that if client reduces balance to £110,500 (85% of orginal val) they would qualify for the rates available at that banding, client made the payment, received the paperwork, signed it, returned it and has confirmation that her rate will be switched as of 01/07.

With all due respect you haven't been given the full picture by hfx of that is what you have been told I am afraid.

This really is posted in the very best spirit of MSE, I am not trying to upset anyone here.