HomeBuy Direct

sgh1976

Hi all,

Stumbled across this thread (and forum) whilst reading up on Home Buy Direct.

He is my story so far.

We spotted a new build near our current rented place and saw the Home Buy ads, so we enquired.

As there is just me and my partner we were told it would just be a 2 bed house. Not a problem, we need to get on the old property ladder.

There was an issue at the time with the property. It hadn't actually been given planning permission (the builders, Persimmon, were changing what they were building and were waiting for approval). Our forms went off based on the details Persimmon gave us.

We popped in a few times to see if the planning permission had been given and we were then told that Persimmon had found a "hole" in the Home Buy Direct rules. If a bedroom was under a certain size (can't remember what that was) then it wasn't classed as a bedroom by HDB. Bingo! So we picked a 3 bed house.

7 weeks after our application was posted we had heard nothing. A few phone calls and we dscovered that Orbit were chasing our property details, so off again to Persimmon to get them to send them over.

Last week we got our approval letter. The initial joy was then tempered when we realised this was for the 2 bed house. Not a problem as such but I want to try all I can for the 3 bed.
Phone calls between myself, Orbit, Persimmon and our IFA and they agreed to reassess us. All the details were collected and then our IFA told us to attach a letter saying that we are planning on starting a family and a 2 bed house would soon be to small for us. So we did this and on Tuesday this weekall this was emailed to Orbit.

Chased up today and been told our new application has been approved and the letter is being posted. So just the mortgage to sort now!!

Sorry the above is long winded but if you are applying for a 2 bed on this scheme, do you best to push it to a 3. The rules are not as strict as they are made out.

vicshippers

sgh1976 wrote: »

Sorry the above is long winded but if you are applying for a 2 bed on this scheme, do you best to push it to a 3. The rules are not as strict as they are made out.

How do you explain to the family with one little boy and one little girl that there are no 3 bed houses left on the scheme and they will have to stay in a rented 2 bed place?

Myself and my partner are in the early stages of this and although they are smaller than I would like, we are only considering a 2 bed. While the extra space would be nice - this is a government scheme intended to help those that need an extra hand, I wouldn't sleep properly knowing I had 'pushed' the system's rules.

sgh1976

vicshippers wrote: »

How do you explain to the family with one little boy and one little girl that there are no 3 bed houses left on the scheme and they will have to stay in a rented 2 bed place?

Myself and my partner are in the early stages of this and although they are smaller than I would like, we are only considering a 2 bed. While the extra space would be nice - this is a government scheme intended to help those that need an extra hand, I wouldn't sleep properly knowing I had 'pushed' the system's rules.

I'll sleep perfectly well. It was the builder and IFA that have advised this. Infact the builders are pushing this, to the point where they will make the 3rd bedroom smaller on other properties so it fits within the rules.

We do plan to start a family when we are in our own place and also make the new place our home for a long time to come. So if I can get the house offered to me then I will grab it with both hands and thank the Goverment for this scheme that is a fantastic help to those that cannot raise a 25-30% deposit.

dizzyblonde85

Question to all those going through the scheme, when is the best time to instruct a solicitor?? We have had offer accepted on house.... House reserved, but I am reluctant to do all the conveyancing side of things before I have final approval of funds from homebuy agent... Still worried something may go wrong, but then am I leaving it too late??
Also the estate agents have instructed the solicitors on our behalf but we have still heard nothing, might they be waiting for authority to proceed from the homebuy agent??
Thanks

sgh1976

You need a solicitor before you can get the Authority to Proceed.

The Property Details form you have to send back to your HomeBuy Agent needs these details.

We reserved our property yesterday and are using the Solicitor suggested by the builders. I contacted them this morning, they gave me the total price and then said I wouldn't pay a penny if the sale didn't go through.

The only money we face losing is the £250 reservation fee, as the builders do not refund this on Home Buy Direct

babybones

So I was supposed to complete on my HomeBuy Direct purchase on Friday 17 July - only to be told the day before it wouldn't happen. Completion was delayed until Wednesday 22 July - only again we were told on the day of completion (a disgrace!) that it wasn't going to go ahead.

The developer apparently have not yet received the government's contribution and so here I am on 27 July, hoping that completion will go ahead before I am made homeless.

My solicitor says he can't do anything because it is the government's solicitor causing problems, and my solicitor has nothing to do with this part of the transaction. Convenient for my solicitor, who has already been paid over £900 for a purchase which hasn't completed yet!!

This scheme is a joke. I am about to be made homeless as my tenancy is up on my rented accommodation this Wednesday, and yet no one will accept blame for this mess.

Has anyone any ideas on who I should lodge a formal complaint with? I'm thinking all parties involved!!

robfuzzard

We're currently going through a Homebuy Direct purchase. We've just got our Authority to proceed (which I think means we've passed the RBS test of acceptance) but I'm more concerned about having to go through RBS. I hear horror stories about them trapping you in your mortgage with nasty clauses if you want to exit your mortgage early. Does anyone know about this?

By the looks of it, we've been lucky with being connected to a really good mortgage advisor through Persimmons. I am baffled however as to how Halifax told us they would lend us a maximum of £175,000 based on mine and my wife's wages yet we've been accepted to get this new home, which is valued at £204,000 (100%).

A word of warning as well, we thought that because we are actually getting a mortgage of £142,800 we would escape Stamp Duty tax. We were horribly wrong. As the full price of the property is £204k, we're having to pay the 1%. It's a nasty blow for people like us who were entering the Homebuy Direct scheme because of lack of savings. By comparison though, it seems like we're having a luckier time of it than some of you guys. I hope it all works out ok for you all!

OMAR

hi mightyscoop or joanne....ive just started a thread on this...and was wondering if you could you have a look at it for me...or pm me...thanks!

xx_sair_xx

I am currently broken hearted after not getting accepted on this scheme after i fell in love with the perfect house!!!

My boyfriend has applied for the HBD scheme in his own name as the morgage will be as we didnt want to get a joint morgage having never lived together. He has spoken to a representative at the morgage advice bureau, advised by HBD, and through choice wanted his morgage through nationwide, who had already accepted him for a morgage to cover the house of £115k. He sent the form to the morgage advice bureau nearly 4 weeks ago and got told he was forwarding it to the local HBD office 3 weeks ago.

On 9th july my boyfriend faxed over the letter from his bank confirming that they would lend him the money, after the guy at morgage advice suggested he do this. We went away on holiday and got back last week to a letter saying they had received the application and we would here soon. The letter cam this morning to say he'd been rejected for 2 reasons....one that the house is a 3 bedroom and 2nd that he couldnt afford it.

Being told he could afford was quite a shock as he had been accepted for a morgage and earns approx 30k!! then we found the guy at morgage advice had done all the morgage calculations with RBS AND hadnt sent on the acceptance letter for the morgage that he had request by boyfriend fax over!!!!

Secondly the house we looked at is a 2/3 bedroom, with the 3rd bedroom being on the ground floor ( the house is 3 storys) along with the kitchen. On the house plans the room is described as "bedroom 3 / garden room" and has double patio doors that open onto the garden. As there is no dining room this is what we would have been using this room for- i dont know many people that would put a child in a bedroom like this.

When he queried further my boyfirned got told that actually families are a priority yet there is no mention of this in the booklet, not a single photo of a happy family in there new home- just young first time buyer couples!!!

I have just found out that there is an open day at the development where we wanted to live and this man from the morgage advice is going to be there- so we shall see what that brings.

Does anyone know if we re apply and also put my name on whther my name would also need to be on the morgage?? i earn around £17k so cant see this stopping us from maybe still being offered the equity loan?

sgh1976

Your advisor and builder should have explained the rules to your partner.

HBD gives you what you need, i.e single or a couple = 2 bedroom. There is flexibility in this, where a couple is planning to start a family upon moving in. The agent can then approve a 3 bed for you. Since your partner was the sole applicant he cannot start a family on his own.

My advice - Do a joint application, in the other information put you plan to start a family and you stand a better chance of getting approved.

If you do a joint application to HBD the mortgage has to be joint. (as far as I know)