Halifax Mortgage offer

mod333

Hey all, new here and have a few questions if anyone is able to point me in the right direction.
Have had an mortgage offer from halifax accepted on a property im currently building, they have offered me 144k which is less than 75%ltv however I think Halifax withhold 10% of that 144 which would mean I only receive 129600, would I be right in thinking this? And if so why is this the case, had a meeting with the mortgage advisor last september and my next meeting is in a few weeks when I recieve the first draw-down, I will further interrogate her then, but can anyone shed some light on it in the mean time???
Many thanks

mod333

Anyone Have Any Insight To This??

hcb42

I think you need to give more info. Why a retainer?

mod333

Well, according to the halifax mortgage advisor they keep it, I may get in contact with them tomorrow to find out why because I dont want to be paying interest on money that they with-hold, just seems a strange idea! I hope that I do receive the money as its hard to finalize a budget when you may/may not receive £14k!!

opinions4u

They won't charge you interest on money they haven't released.

They will release the money when certain work has been completed (and possibly checked by a surveyor at your expense).

So you need to establish what work.

kingstreet

Have a look on the mortgage report and valuation and check what's listed under "essential" repairs. The retention will be the surveyor's estimates of the cost of these repairs which may or may not be particularly accurate.

If you get reports and estimates drawn up for these repairs and submit them to the surveyor, he may reduce or withdraw the retention altogether. If the total is more than the retention, it may be worth proceeding without showing the reports to the surveyor. This would probably see the retention increased.

If there is a retention, the lender will not charge you interest until such times as you actually get the work done, have the surveyor re-inspect the property and ask for the money to be released to you.

When a retention is applied, you'll need to increase your deposit by an equivalent sum to enable completion to take place.