Bungaroosh & Mortgages - Should this be a problem getting a standard mortgage?

cristinakaren

Hi,
I was wondering if anybody here has had any problems with getting a mortgage on east/west sussex properties that were constructed using Bungaroosh?

We're in the middle of an application with the Skipton and concerns have been raised because the valuer mentioned "Bungaroosh" in the valuation report. The surveyor is happy with the valuation and considers the property a good buy and didn't foresee any problems with resale.

We also had a full building survey and no issues were raised. I'm aware that any future repairs will be more expensive but I'm ok with that.

Apparently bungeroosh is a very common in the area for houses built in the 1850s.

Should this really be a good reason for the lender not to offer the mortgage? There a hundreds of late Georgian and early Victorian properties in the area. Surely they are not all un-mortgageable?

The house we're trying to buy has been standing since the 1850s. Every other house in the terrrace looks exactly the same. Surely everybody on the street is not a cash buyer?

If anybody has been through the same thing I'd love to hear your story.

Many thanks
Karen

cristinakaren

Hi,
Anybody from Brighton \ Hove area that's heard of this before?

Thanks

chrissie57

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungaroosh

ruggedtoast

Although the material is solid once set, it has poor resistance to water. If it dries out completely, it can crumble away; but if it gets wet it can dissolve and start to move, causing structural failure. Regular drying-out and saturation caused by the effects of the weather has caused some bay-window fronts to collapse in Brighton.[3] A common maxim states that much of Brighton "could be demolished with a well-aimed hose"; the supposed extent of this destruction varies between "a third" and "half" depending on the source.[3][5]

Find one made out of bricks mate.

cristinakaren

Thanks Chrissie. Had come across this but didn't seem to help much with regards to issues arising with mortgages. There are thousands of victorian properties in Brighton very likely to be partly of fully constructed utilising Bungeroosh. Surely all these people have mortgages? Very surprised this has never come up before for anybody else?

Here is what I got in the survey report:

"We found no evidence of any significant defects and we cannot foresee any special difficulties arising on resale in normal market conditions.

The property has been maintained and modernised to a reasonable standard consistent with its age and is considered to be a reasonable purchase"....

Which bit of this sentence do you think the underwriter is worried about?

cristinakaren

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Find one made out of bricks mate.

Yes - read that as well. I'm not 100% convinced though.

Fact is - the house has been standing since 1850 along with every other house in the conservation area. The same can be said for whole areas of regency and victorian properties in the area. They are all still standing.

Nobody from the area that's come across this before?

betmunch

IIRC the Skipton are very clear on what they will or wont accept. Your broker wouldnt have placed you with them if he thought it would be a problem. If you didnt use a broker then you have taken responsibility on knowing the above your self

cristinakaren

Hi betmunch,
This was direct. The property was not advertised as being constructed using bungeroosh. It was just a Victorian property.

The possible use of bungeroosh only came up as part of the full survey.

A broker would not have known about this before the survey either....

Still hoping somebody from the area might be able to shed some light on this?

Many thanks

betmunch

cristinakaren wrote: »

Hi betmunch,
This was direct. The property was not advertised as being constructed using bungeroosh. It was just a Victorian property.

The possible use of bungeroosh only came up as part of the full survey.

A broker would not have known about this before the survey either....

Still hoping somebody from the area might be able to shed some light on this?

Many thanks

If it only came to light at survey stage your right, a broker wouldnt have been able to advise before the survey. We can only work with the information given to us.

As you went direct your best option is to check their website for a list of construction types they consider acceptable.

Failing that a quick call to skipton on monday morning should confirm if its acceptable or not.

Have you called them already? It seems you have a lot of info in the OP and have investigated a little at least. What makes you think they will have a problem if its standard construction for the area?