Unmortgageable 1 bed flat less than 30 sq m

MILLET

I wonder if anybody can help. I bought a 1 bed flat in north London 3 months ago with a mortgage, circumstances changed and we no longer needed it so decided to sell.
1st person to see it made an offer which we accepted. Valuer went in yesterday and said it was unmortgageable because it was a studio and less than 30 sq metres. It definitely has a separate bedroom.
Only difference between when I got a mortgage and yesterday was the fact that someone was living there when I got mortgage and they had a sofa in the living room / kitchen room and the bedroom was set out as a bedroom.
Two questions that i would like to ask are :
Have mortgage criteria changed in the past 3 months.
And what are the criteria for flats to be considered 1 bed or studio.

kingstreet

You went to a mortgage lender whose surveyor was happy with the property. Your buyer appears to have used a lender whose surveyor isn't.

Criteria hasn't changed. Such property was never acceptable to all lenders beforehand and it still isn't.

Remember - many lenders won't accept an application purchased by its current owner less than six months ago. This may also be a headache.

silvercar

And what are the criteria for flats to be considered 1 bed or studio.

I would say a bedroom would need to have a door separating it from the living area and ideally a window. It should also be big enough to fit a bed into.

clockworks_2

Would it be better to rent it out if you can?

You will most likely have early redemption fees.

maninthestreet

30 square metres is only 5 x 6 m - and this has to include a kitchen, bathroom, lounge and bedroom - just how big is each room??

LandyAndy

maninthestreet wrote: »

30 square metres is only 5 x 6 m - and this has to include a kitchen, bathroom, lounge and bedroom - just how big is each room??

:eek: That's the same floor area as my living room.:eek:

tim123456789

silvercar wrote: »

I would say a bedroom would need to have a door separating it from the living area and ideally a window. It should also be big enough to fit a bed into.

a window is a "must have" for it to be classified as a separate bedroom

vectistim

It's quite possible to do in 30 sqm - c. 320 sq ft
Bedroom: 9x9 = 81
Lounge: 11x10 = 110
Kitchen: 7x6 = 42
Bathroom: 6x5= 30
Leaves 59 sq ft for internal walls, a hallway and a cupboard.

MILLET

It has a separate room for the bedroom through doors. It has big windows. The kitchen is part of the living room. It has it's own front door and a 40 ft private garden.
Did once sell a 1 bed flat that was 180sq ft. That went thru with no problems but that was in times gone by.

newsgroup_monkey

kingstreet wrote: »

Remember - many lenders won't accept an application purchased by its current owner less than six months ago. This may also be a headache.

I'm intrigued at this comment because you've mentioned it many times before. I see what you do for a living so I'm not going to try teach Grandmother etc. and I'm not trying to troll however.....

I mentioned it to the wife who knows these things (can't say why, but she "works with" most of the big lenders). She said the 6 month thing does flag up, but providing nothing smells fishy she has never had a lender turn down a mortgage on this basis.

kingstreet

It varies from lender to lender.

Some have no issues with it at all. Two, off the top of my head fit that bill without me having to think about it.

Others will give an application extra scrutiny, but will still accept, while a majority will not consider an application until the property has been in current ownership for six months or longer.

Abbey/Santander;-

If the property has been owned by the vendor for less than six months, the application may be referred for investigation.
This could result in delays to completion or in some instances
the application being declined.

Halifax;-

Sub-sales and back-to-back transactions are not acceptable.

A sub-sale occurs when a property is bought and then sold on within six months, i.e. the borrower is buying the property from someone who has themselves bought the property less than six months before. The date of registration at the Land Registry is how we determine the length of ownership.

This means that the current vendor must have owned the property for at least six months before we can accept an application to purchase that property.

I have to work on the basis the borrower on here may approach one of the lenders who would have a problem with it.