Halifax reached quota of mortgages..true or false??

young_gj

Myself and my partner are first time buyers and are buying a new home through persimmon homes. We have been using their mortage advisors and as this is the first time buying a house I dont really know what to expect, much about the process etc and sometimes i dont know if what they are telling me is true or they are just feeding me a story and trying to get more money out of me - i am probably just paranoid due to the sheer stressfulness of buying a house for the first time but it would be good to know if anyone else has experienced this.

We are using the governments firstbuy equity scheme where the government gives you 10% of the price of the new build house and the builder gives you 10% of the cost so you only need a 5% deposit and 75% mortgage. Apparently there are only two lenders who will lend people on the firstbuy scheme a mortgage - these are the halifax and natwest. I've not heard good things about the halifax so i was already a bit worried. Anyway our mortgage advisor told us today (after much chasing as to whether we had got agreement in principle) that the halifax had said that they have reached their quota of mortgages that they would lend against plots on this particular site. I have never heard of this before and when i have googled it i could not see anything. It just sounds a bit dodgy.

As part of this same conversation our mortgage advisor said she would go back to the site manager and see if anyone had pulled out of a deal after going with the halifax so we can take their spot so to speak. She then mentioned that the only other option would be to go with the Natwest but they would require 5% of the gross purchase price rather than 5% of the price we are actually buying the house for which means raising more money. The house was originally on the market for £164,999. We would be purchasing it for £154,999 so to me in my simple way of understanding it we should be paying 5% of £154,999 ...but apparently not they want 5% of the £164,999. Does this sound right, just as i see it if you were buying a house normally and the seller had it on the market for £200,000 and you put in a bid for £180,000 and it was accepted then wouldnt you pay the deposit (say 10%) on the £180,000 rather than 10% of what it was originally on sale for? Might just be because i am new to this but i smell a bit of a rat

Any advice or has anyone else experienced this?:huh:

holly_hobby

No you are not being told porkies - Halifax don't want to be over exposed in having too many properties on (in this case) one specific new estate. The are trying to limit the extent and their exposure to any negative impact from a change in market conditions - particularly affecting one area or in this case one specific new build.

You will find that all responsible lenders will work to the same or a similar business model.

The problem with the protential over exposure in this case is because there are only 2 lenders in the market for your particular circumstances - which is why it has reared its head and business practices have been disclosed by the Halifax.

Fingers crossed there will be a drop out ... or Nat West will accomodate you (again if their exposure is within their accepted business paramaters)

Hope this helps

Holly

LilacPixie

As holly says halifax try and minimise exposure with schemes like this and no limit the amount of applicants. i have saw posts on here before regarding it but not experienced it myself.

The difference between the 5% on the purchase price and 5% of the gross purchase price is only £500 so (maybe) easy enough to raise.

With a my mortgage the deposit required is on purchase price not the asking price. Natwest may require different things depending on product.

kingstreet

Complete coincidence.

See post #5. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/46195765#Comment_46195765

kingstreet

If there's no builder's deposit involved, won't the Nationwide do it?

http://www.nationwide-intermediary.co.uk/content/lendingcriteria/schemes/equity_share_schemes.aspx

DannyboyMidlands

The schemes are a scam anyway. Far better to save a deposit and buy a secondhand house.

garth549

IMO these houses are usually overpriced (sometimes by a lot)

My cousin's valuation came back nearly 15% lower on a new build than the price they had agreed with the builders.

simondh_2

Halifax and Natwest are not the only two lenders who will lend to FirstBuy people - Nationwide, Barclays and many others are part of the FirstBuy group of lenders.

Oh, and the scheme is not a scam No information about the scheme is hidden, it's up to the individual to do their research and decide for themselves whether the scheme is helpful.

plane_boy2000

Find a broker who is nothing to do with Persimmon. From my experience with them they are not the most honest bunch.

Also dont expect them to honour any warranty - they will be really hard work as soon as they have your money