Mortgage Retention Question

sjoh0961

Hello.

Sorry if I'm asking a silly question, but wanted to try to forewarn myself before calling lender (Accord).

We've bought a house for 385k with a few damp problems. We have a retention of 2.5k on this (based on a damp and timber survey that we were told to get), so we've already effectively paid a deposit of 2.5k more than we hoped to pay.

I have two questions.

Firstly, can we do the work as and when we feel like it, and just sack off the retention, as it's not that much money?

Secondly, if we do the work as a mixture of DIY where it's easy, and using builders when needed, how do we prove to the lender that it's been done? Do we have to pay our damp and timber surveyor to come back and confirm that we've done what he told us to? Or would we have to pay for the mortgage company to send someone round? If the latter, how much is that likely to cost?

I know the easiest way to get these answers should be phoning the mortgage company, but I have a feeling that it will be difficult to get a straightforward answer.

Anyway, thanks a lot for any help anyone can give.

Tim

lizzyshep

I don't know a definite answer to this but there was a £2k retention on my mortgage when I bought my flat over 6 years ago, due to some minor problems (cracks and suspected damp). I did the same as you and went ahead with the purchase. I never got the repairs done (except for minor filling in of cracks and painting), I never needed to inform my lender. I am now selling and about to exchange, nothing has been raised about this and as far as I know there was no retention placed on my buyer's mortgage. So I'm not 100% sure but I don't think you need to worry.

sjoh0961

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense. I'm just trying to work out whether the work is optional, and I also want to know what I would have to do show the mortgage company that it has been done to an acceptable standard.