Any lenders other than Halifax for asbestos-roofed house?

ed110220

Hi all,

does anyone know if there are any lenders other than Halifax who will accept an asbestos-roofed house for remortgaging?

My two-year fixed-rate deal with Halifax is ending in mid January, which is not a problem as it will actually go down slightly, but I'd like to see if there are any better options.

The house was bought two years ago for £125 000 with an 85% LTV mortgage.

ed110220

Any ideas apart from phoning up each one with a suitable offer? From past experience, getting an answer isn't always straightforward

Din85

Im not sure, but i have done a fair amount of reading on non standard construction, mainly as i find it post war architecture very interesting !

Would this be a BISF house ? i know they are mortgageable, though some do mention clauses if they still have the OE asbestos cement roofs, i read somewhere Santander was one ?

Worth having a good google on the subject.

Sorry im not much help lol.

ed110220

Din85 wrote: »

Im not sure, but i have done a fair amount of reading on non standard construction, mainly as i find it post war architecture very interesting !

Would this be a BISF house ? i know they are mortgageable, though some do mention clauses if they still have the OE asbestos cement roofs, i read somewhere Santander was one ?

Worth having a good google on the subject.

Sorry im not much help lol.

I'm glad someone else does as some quite innovative solutions were used! It is indeed a BISF house, which is probably the commonest type of house with an asbestos roof.

None of the main highstreet lenders seem to have a problem with BISF construction since the Building Research Establishment concluded it should have an expected life comparable with a traditional house of the same age... certaintly this is what I've found during refurbishment, that the steel frame is in good condition for 65 years old and should be fine for decades more. This was in the 1980s when the BRE investigated non-traditional construction and found some types to be defective (mostly precast reinforced concrete systems). The news doesn't seem to have got to some of the smaller lenders yet though, some of which even mistakenly think it is on the defective list!

However, it seems that most lenders will not lend on a house of any construction if it has an asbestos roof. I would say a large minority of BISF houses still have their original asbestos roofs... not a problem if left undisturbed.

Google doesn't reveal much though about lenders' criteria.

ed110220

The other option may be to see if we can borrow more to replace the roof covering and thereby get a better interest rate.

kingstreet

Investigate your Halifax product transfer options.

They usually have fee-free options and require no evidence of income, credit check etc. They will tell you your property's indexed valuation and outstanding mortgage amount, so you can calculate the LTV.

If you've improved the property since purchase, you can also pay the £130 odd for an internal inspection and get the property revalued, if you think this will get you a lower LTV and a better rate.

ed110220

kingstreet wrote: »

Investigate your Halifax product transfer options.

They usually have fee-free options and require no evidence of income, credit check etc. They will tell you your property's indexed valuation and outstanding mortgage amount, so you can calculate the LTV.

If you've improved the property since purchase, you can also pay the £130 odd for an internal inspection and get the property revalued, if you think this will get you a lower LTV and a better rate.

Thanks, I was wondering how the valuation/LTV thing worked, so that helps.

If it's around £130 it may well be worth a revaluation as if we do nothing it reverts to the SVR of 3.99% giving a monthly repayment of £447, but if the house value has risen above £131 000 then it would fall into the 75-80% LTV band and the repayment would be £394 (according to the Halifax website).

ed110220

Din85 wrote: »

Im not sure, but i have done a fair amount of reading on non standard construction, mainly as i find it post war architecture very interesting !

If you're interested in non-traditional housing, check out www.bisfhouse.com, it's a mine of information!

ed110220

How would I estimate the valuation and whether it is likely that it has increased enough?

Bought for £125 000 in December 2011, Zoopla gives an estimate of£133,925, I realise Zoopla shouldn't be taken as gospel. I have done some refurbishment and redecorating inside and out, but nothing too major.

ed110220

Update: The Halifax automatic valuation is £131 516, which brings it into the 75-80% LTV band rather than the existing 80-95% band, so the interest rate for 2 years fixed would be 3.14%.

I'm thinking this seems much more competitive than compared with other lenders when we took it out two years ago. What do you think?

randykurm

I think one can access a very good knowledge from the above post and as while going through the thread above I come to know the various aspects of the well roofed-house to the utmost.