Help - 2nd kitchen = no mortgage

Leon_W

The present owner will simply have to rip the kitchen out.

If they are serious about selling then all prospective buyers, unless cash, will have exactly the same issue. Anything with two kitchens is a no no for residential mortgage lenders.

vacheron

This sounds like an odd condition.

I can understand "no kitchen" causing a mortgage decline, but why can't you do what you want with your remaining rooms?

My brother has just bought a house with 2 kitchens. The previous owners had a new kitchen built in a different location and just left the old one (still perfectly serviceable) where it was. This was stated in the survey and they had no issues at all with their lender. Can't remember who their lender is, but I'm sure I could find out if necessary.

martinsurrey

vacheron wrote: »

This sounds like an odd condition.

I can understand "no kitchen" causing a mortgage decline, but why can't you do what you want with your remaining rooms?

My brother has just bought a house with 2 kitchens. The previous owners had a new kitchen built in a different location and just left the old one (still perfectly serviceable) where it was. This was stated in the survey and they had no issues at all with their lender. Can't remember who their lender is, but I'm sure I could find out if necessary.

becuase I bet 99.99% of houses with 2 kitchens will be let out as 2 informal flats, and resi mortgage lenders dont need the head ache.

I have a viewing on a 2 kitchen house on saturday (which was let as 2 flats), and its on my list of things I need to be done, or I walk.

Smileyhippo

vacheron wrote: »

This sounds like an odd condition.

I can understand "no kitchen" causing a mortgage decline, but why can't you do what you want with your remaining rooms?

My brother has just bought a house with 2 kitchens. The previous owners had a new kitchen built in a different location and just left the old one (still perfectly serviceable) where it was. This was stated in the survey and they had no issues at all with their lender. Can't remember who their lender is, but I'm sure I could find out if necessary.

It would be useful if you could find out who the lender was as it appears to be the norm that 2 kitchens result in problems! Besides this forum, I have contacted a number of providers and mortgage brokers and they all say the same.

GMS

99.9% of the time 2 kitchens will be a decline. However as mentioned earlier in the thread I have done one years ago as it was a huge house with 2 kitchens for religious reasons and clearly a single family dwelling.

If a property has had a kitchen in a basement for instance with a newer modern alternative constructed upsatirs but the old antiquated one left then a valuer would note it is clearly not in use and it could be ok for a lender.

2 fully functioning kitchens would need some serious convincing that it is not sub let etc.

less2spend

I wonder what makes a kitchen a kitchen? If you just asked the owner to remove the sink and cooker could that get you through? Throw a rug down and put a chair in and is it still a kitchen?

jennifernil

What about properties with a "granny flat"?

We have 2 kitchens as my Mum lived with us for 13 years. The "flat" is just part of the house, no separate entrance, it was built by us that way, back in 1988.

To access the area you need to use the front door, the hallway, the stairs and the upper landing. Our kitchen and living rooms are on the upper floor too, our bedrooms are downstairs. Halifax provided the mortgage in 1988, without comment at that time. It has also been mortgaged with Abbey and Nationwide. Mortgage redeemed in 2007.

Since Mum died, we have just used the rooms as part of the house. Our daughter uses the bedroom and bathroom, the living room is just a second lounge, and we use the kitchen for extra storage, including the fridge and freezer.

So would this set-up be seen as a problem these days? Not that we have any plans to sell, but it's good to keep an eye on the current situation.

Owain_Moneysaver

less2spend wrote: »

I wonder what makes a kitchen a kitchen? If you just asked the owner to remove the sink and cooker could that get you through? Throw a rug down and put a chair in and is it still a kitchen?

Just remove the cooker and call it a utility room.

But I think the sticking point is that it is currently part-tenanted and the mortgagor is cautious about it being part-tenanted in the future. Granny flats with their own kitchen are liable to be treated as independent dwellings and to have their own council tax banding, etc., because they're no longer ancillary to the main home.

Conrad

jennifernil wrote: »

So would this set-up be seen as a problem these days? Not that we have any plans to sell, but it's good to keep an eye on the current situation.

It's always been an issue, however the odd one slips through.

There are numerous real world examples of why this can cause difficulty for a lender later on, and it is these that lead to the reason lenders will nearly always decline such a property.

I've had cases like this. Common sense wins the day. For example rip out kitchen, stick a sofa in there, job done.

Granny flats are even more problematic that the double kichen situation.

jennifernil

Oooooh! Nooooo!

Just as well we are not planning to sell then!

We did however plan the house so that the "extra" bit would be easily incorporated without the layout seeming odd. The wall between the 2nd living room and 2nd kitchen is not load bearing, so easily removed if required. Or the 2nd kitchen would make a lovely study.

Why are granny flats seen as a problem now? None of our mortgage providers saw it as a problem at the time.