Retentions (Barclays specifically)

PeterI_2

Currently I'm having "fun" with getting a mortgage on a grade 2 listed building due to a damp problem in the cellar.

After reading around on this I decided to get a specialist damp surveyor in who specialises in older properties. The report I've got is excellent (many cores drilled in the wall etc) and recommends installing membranes to cure the problem (estimated cost £8-10K).

My problem is with Barclays, I've been told by someone at esurv (the banks valuation surveyors which you have to use) that he didn't think that Barclays did retentions. (a worrying thing to hear)

My mortgage offer has now come in with a retention of 10K until the work has been done HOWEVER this seems to be written in some variation of english that makes no sense and can be read as suggesting that I won't get ANY funds until the work is done (given that it's a listed property this could take a good few months and would probably mean my sale would fall through). My solicitor has said that she wouldn't be happy with us exchanging contracts on the basis of the offer as it stands and has sent a fax to Barclays to clarify (still waiting on an answer here).

The advisor at Barclays that we deal with thinks that we do have a retention and will have to get the work done in six months but his words don't seem to match the words written on the offer.

So my question is has anyone else had a recent mortgage with Barclays with a retention and how was it worded?

Should I be starting the process of finding an alternative lender? I'm getting concerned as Barclays back end processes currently seem to be very much like a black hole with no visibility even to their employess as to whats actually going on.

Thrugelmir

The monies will be withheld from the mortgage advance until such time as the work is completed. The idea of a retention is to incentivise the borrower to complete the work promptly.