High-rise mortgages

debsand

Does anyone know of a mortgage lender who will lend on a property above the 4th floor in an ex-local authority building in central London? Less than 50% of the apartments in the building are privately owned. Thanks!

UK007BullDog

Does the property have deck/balcony access?
How many floors high?
maisonettes?
Does it have a lift?
Is it made from concrete or brick?

There might be a couple of sub-prime lenders but the interest rates are higher.
Personally if you have problems now finding a lender, what will happen when you want to sell and the buyer cannot find a lender at all? You are then stuck with a property you cannot sell.

herbiesjp

debsand wrote:

Does anyone know of a mortgage lender who will lend on a property above the 4th floor in an ex-local authority building in central London? Less than 50% of the apartments in the building are privately owned. Thanks!

Have you applied to anyone yet?

There are several high street lenders that could look at this for you.

I would suggest having a work with a broker to see if they can find out from the lender if they have got other mortgaged properties in the same block, or if their surveyors would be ok with the property

HTH

sarkin

London Mortgage Company will go over 4 storeys. I'm sure a few of the other usual suspects will do this i,e Cheshire, Blemain, Infinity, Victoria. SPML GMAC and Kennsington are all reffer to lender. So would need to speak with an underwriter.

debsand

it's internal access, 12 stories high, the flat is on the 9th floor. 3 rooms kit & bth 650 sq ft with a small balcony. Do you think it will become harder or easier in the future to find mortgages for property like this as prices rise and more buyers want to find a way onto the property ladder?

sarkin

It has not beeen a problem in the past to get mortgages on these types of proerty. I cant see why this would change

UK007BullDog

If it were balcony access it would be nearly impossible.

Call your local surveyors and ask them if they ever surveyed properties in that block and for which lender.

But I can tell you it will not be easy as it is an ex-local block and lenders do have issue with that. You might need to ask the council to find out the exact number of flats which are privately owned.

Well, we are already under high pressure but the lenders have very weird rules regarding high rise flats.

You also need to consider the costs if any repairs are due. Those that own flats will be lumbered with higher bills than those still living under the authority of the council.

Personally, unless I was totally desperate I would not go higher than 4 floors and rather go for a smaller property if price is an issue. Also not ex-local authority, but rather private purpose built. The value of those go up more than ex-locals.