Mortgage on a house that requires refurbishment

chewmylegoff

I am in the process of potential buying a 1930s house which needs to be renovated. It appears to be structurally sound (although no survey done yet), with no signs of damp. I've had a builder look at it and he thought the roof had been replaced in the last 20 years and was also sound. The kitchen and bathroom are functional (prob both about 20 years old) and the central heating is the same (probably replaced about 20 years ago).

However the decor is very ropey, there are minor cracks all over the place, the plaster is failing in several places and it needs to be partially (lighting circuits have been done recently but wiring for plug sockets throughout needs to be redone. There is also a small extension which is falling away from the house and falling down and needs to be demolished, builder said this wasn't a major job but it is an obvious issue.

We have a large deposit and could afford to put down 25-30% deposit and have plenty of cash left over to do the work that needs to be done. However I am not sure whether a mortgage lender will actually advance a mortgage on a house in this condition.

In my view it is habitable but we don't plan to live in it until quite a bit of work has been done. In these circumstances how is a mortgage lender going to react to us trying to get a 'normal' residential mortgage? We have put an offer in and will visit a mortgage broker if it gets accepted but any advice appreciated to help prepare us for whatever hoops we might need to jump through.

HappyMJ

Replastering and rewiring is fairly minor work especially if you aren't living in the property. It can be completed in less than a few weeks.

The extension may be a small problem but really everything you've listed isn't that bad and I don't see why a mortgage lender wouldn't lend on it.

chewmylegoff

HappyMJ wrote: »

Replastering and rewiring is fairly minor work especially if you aren't living in the property. It can be completed in less than a few weeks.

The extension may be a small problem but really everything you've listed isn't that bad and I don't see why a mortgage lender wouldn't lend on it.

Thanks for the reply. Does it matter what our plans for the house are? The way I see it we have two options- (I) do essential work immediately (the extension and rewiring, replace boiler, then slowly upgrade house over time or (II) just do the whole lot all in one go before we move in, including knocking a couple of internal walls out remodel the kitchen, and redecorate the lot.

The latter will prob cost £100k and take 3-4 months. We would probably prefer to do that but (I) would be plausible. Is the bank going to care which we do and will it affect their decision.

chewmylegoff

Sorry to shamelessly bump my own thread but just wanted to see if anyone else had views on this.

Gary123456790

Hi,

I have just bought a property from an old lady which is in a fairly bad state. She had warm front install loft insulation, central heating and redo some wiring but that was all for the last 25 years.

When the surveyor visited he noted the bad general condition, saw that heating and wiring were OK, but that there was evidence of damp. The damp we had also seen so it was not expected - we had to get a damp and timber report, and then the lender (Clydesdale) considered keeping a retainer but in the end released the full funds.

The lender are not really that interested in you doing major work, probably because people 99% of the time only improve the property which gives them more security. We borrowed 70% of the value, and didnt have any problems.

It is up to the individual lender, property and price as to whether it will work - e.g. if the surveyor doesnt agree with the purchase price he may undervalue it. Fortunately this didnt happen with us.

Remember that you need specialist house insurance if you will not live in the property initially and also if you want it to cover an issue arising from a worker, e.g. electrician burning the house down.

Thanks,

Gary.

ACG

I bought my house with electric heating and bathroom/kitchen which looked like they were from the 70s/80s.

Mortgage went through without an issue other than in the valuers comments to say a rewire is needed (to be honest with 2 black plug sockets i didnt need his comments for that one).

So long as the house is habitable (whether you would want to live in it like it is is a different matter), then most (if not all) lenders should be fine with it.