Mortgage offer on hold due to current owner not owned the property for 6 months

lmcint30

Hi there i was wondering if anyone would be able to help me. Myself and my partner found a property that we both loved, found a mortgage with the halifax, put in an offer and the offer was accepted. It wasnt until 2 weeks before the entry date that halifax said that they werent willing to lend us the money until the current owner has owned it for 6 months. The current owner had owned the property for 5 months so we had to postpone the entry date by a month. We now seem to be having problems with halifax as they are telling our solicitor that the case i closed and we will have to apply for a new mortgage offer after the 6 months are up whilst the mortgage broker is telling us we can apply for a new offer with the new entry date before the 6 months are up. We dont know who to trust its so frustrating!!! Apparently the mortgage broker has said that the offer is there its just that the halifax wont complete the process until the 6 months is up. We are currently set to move into the property a week after the 6 months are up, so we are just worried that that wont be enough time for halifax to complete the process. Is there anything we can get from the halifax that confirms the money will be available on the entry date? Thanks verymuch for your help in advance

Thrugelmir

The Halifax set the rules as they are the lender. Your solicitor is duty bound to advise the Halifax if the property has not been owned for at least 6 months. So there's no way the mortgage can proceed and the transaction completed within the one week timescale you wish for.

magpiecottage

Whilst a lender can do this, you MAY have grounds for complaint if it was not drawn to your attention at the time you applied and you incur financial loss and/or material inconvenience as a result.

In theory, this could be attributable to the broker but if the lender did not disclose it to him (and in particular if it did not make it clear in its "Key Facts" document and/or mortgage offer, then it would be the responsibility of the lender.

getmore4less

Does anyone know if this issue affects properties that asent to executors and benifitiaries.

MrsManda

getmore4less wrote: »

Does anyone know if this issue affects properties that asent to executors and benifitiaries.

I wouldn't have thought so as I'm presuming the reason the lenders want the house to have been owned at least 6 months is because they wonder why someone would go through the hassle of buying a house only to sell it less than six months later unless there was something wrong with it.

Whereas it's perfectly reasonable to want to sell a house you've just inherited.

Thrugelmir

magpiecottage wrote: »

Whilst a lender can do this, you MAY have grounds for complaint if it was not drawn to your attention at the time you applied and you incur financial loss and/or material inconvenience as a result.

Mortgage applications can be declined for a number of reasons. The onus would be the potential applicant to have done their homework prior to choosing their preferred lender.