Ex Council in London 7 floor building, 30% Deposit

craigwh

Hi,

I am finding it hard to work out who will lend to me when buying an ex council flat in a building that has seven floors. Is there anywhere that I could look for this information?

On the surface it should be a done deal with a 30% deposit, a 10 year repayment plan and monthly payments that will be only a little more than my current rent.

I would like a two year fixed mortgage with the ability to overpay and focus on the total cost of the mortgage after two years, not just the interest rate.

Any guidance and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Craig

holly_hobby

Generally all the flats in the block will need to be privately owned - from a few yrs ago when I was still involved in mge placement for brokers - Alliance & Leciester went up to 15 floors in London only, but as I say ALL units had to be owner occupied (i.e already past from the council to private ownership).

Alliance & Lec are now part or the Santander group - the criteria may well have evaporated upon their transition to Santander - or Sant. may have retained it. It may be worth a phone call to then for a general idea if they are still in the market.

Other than this, you really need a whole of market broker (as my panel list is now well out of date) who can search (or will already know) of lenders accepting this type of lending.

Hope this helps

Holly

Conrad

There are a number of reasons why lenders avoid this sort of property, based on decades of experience.

Be aware some of the high rise local authority built dwelling are made of non standard materials that have not stood the test of time in a damp British climate. Certain types of concrete construction are a no go now. This is because for example the metal frame and grid within the concrete is thought to be at risk of corrosion in a damp climate.

The lenders that have loaned against high rise for me are;

Woolwich

Nationwide

Scottish Widows

Chelsea

N&P

Ipswich

Covenrty

Skipton

and others. I'd start with Woolwich. You MUST be able to give the exact conbstruction material type, otherwise any conversations you have will be pointless.