Just found out my house is of non standard construction house - mortgage probs

gameforalaugh

Hi All,

Looking for some advice and signposting.

We have been in our ex council house property for 10 years and are now in the last steps of remortgaging with Skipton but the survey report says our house is a Lowton & Cubitt (steel frame) construction. Skipton are not happy and it looks like the mortgage will be refused. We have had 2 mortgages with Abbey & Chelsea and next door are with Nationwide, all 3 valuation reports say standard construction of timber and brick. The brochure from the EA when we bought it didnt mention it was non standard construction and our next door neighbour, who bought 5 years ago, also knew nothing about it being a non standard construction (ironically her mortgage company used the same surveyors who have just done my report and they said hers was a timber construction). I know a few other people on the estate and have asked for their valuation reports because as far as we can find out, no one was aware that the houses are of 'non standard' construction. I had called the council 3 weeks ago when this first cropped up, as there are a few houses still council owned and rented on our street although the majority on the estate are privately owned. Planning passed me to Building Control (think thats the name) who said that there were no records of the construction type anymore, but they could catergorically state that there were no Lowton & Cubitt houses built in the county borough let alone our village. I passed this on, with the chaps contact details from the council and after 3 weeks of run around, Skipton have now said that we need to hire a structural engineer to do a report before they will consider a mortgage. The surveyors say it could be a L&C as there are L&C houses in the area although mine may not be. After a bit more digging at the council, I spoke to a lady in the Estates team who has got access to construction records they've confirmed the council owned houses 3 and 5 doors up ARE Lowton & Cubitt built in 1968.

So now I have no idea what we should be doing! Do I pay for a report to find out once and for all what the construction is and how do I find a structural engineer?

Do I and the other people in the area have a case against being mis-sold this type of house (there are the same ex council houses in the area up for sale, same construction, with no mention on the selling particulars).

Am really lost on how to proceed. We want to remortgage as we can lower our monthly payments by at least £200 due to the change in interest rates but having read a few threads, it seems quite a few mortgage companies don't like L&C houses so unless we chance it not coming up on a surveyors report, we may just end up at this same conclusion by contacting another lender.

Also, should we notify our insurance company as I've also insured it as a standard construction house. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

kingstreet

My guide says Lowton & Cubitt is steel-framed, built post-1960 and is mortgageable under normal terms.

EAs know bu99er all about construction, so what it said when you bought the property isn't relevant.

If you want a structural engineer to establish what you have, you can find one here;-

http://www.findanengineer.com/

Use "surveying domestic property" and your postcode.

You bought the property, no-one advised you to buy it, so nothing was mis-sold. Chances are, it isn't non-standard and the new lender's surveyor has made a mistake. Did you pay for this valuation?

Perhaps a few of you should club together and have a structural engineer's report on one of the houses which will also tell the others what their homes are made of?

gameforalaugh

Thank you for your reply.
We haven't paid for the surveyors report.
I'm presuming then that it is Skipton that has a problem with LC houses and hopefully not all mortgage companies? This is the first time that we have been told that our house is a LC construction and this was done by the surveyor just looking around. The first person I spoke to in the council said it was impossible to decide on the construction of a house by a quick look in rooms and would require a proper investigation or records to back it up but here is the official statement from the surveyor - ‘Over the last 20 years I have valued several very similar properties on this estate but not in this block. These were all confirmed as Lowton & Cubit House types which is a mix of traditional cavity masonry walls with the front and rear elevations being a single skin of timber frame partly supported by a steel frame’.

‘However, the subject could be a different type of construction’.

‘In the circumstances I can only recommend that the applicants approach some local structural engineers who may be familiar with the houses to confirm their construction’.

Hopefully if other mortgage companies don't have a problem with the construction, we can find another company but i'm still surprised how we could be sold a house and 10 years later that its a completely different structure that now some mortgage companies avoid and may have an effect on our insurance. The reason I brought up the mis-sold bit was on another thread I saw this (in discussion about a steel framed house of non traditional contruction not being disclosed by an EA and money being lost) -

Buyer beware no longer applies, the consumer legislation has changed.

You could report the EA to the Ombudsman. They are supposed to disclose such information.

(link not allowed to be posted)

See especially para 5h.

If you look through the TPOS website as the case studies, you will see that EAs are supposed to state anything that a buyer may want to take into account at the earliest opportunity.

If you believe you would not have made an offer and hence not incurred costs had you known the property was of non-standard construction, the Ombudsman has the authority to require the EA to pay you this sum if they find in your favour.

dj1471

The house was not "mis-sold" unless the vendor or EA specifically told you that it was another type of construction. You are ultimately responsible for satisfying yourself about the property you are buying. If you had a survey and the surveyor stated it was another type of construction then you have a claim against the surveyor. If you didn't have a survey (or a sufficiently in-depth survey) then you have learned a lesson...

The legislation you refer to above was only introduced very recently and did not apply 10 years ago (and in any case may not have helped, because there seems to be some debate about whether it is considered non-standard or not).

gameforalaugh

We did have a survey with the first mortgage company, Abbey, and the surveyors report stated it was standard construction. Same with next door, they bought and mortgaged with Nationwide using my current surveyors but who in 2009 said it was standard timber and brick construction and now they say it isn't. If this means we have a case against the surveyors, would we complain to them first? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

dj1471

Well first off as kingstreet says you need to establish definitively how the property is constructed.

Assuming it is non-standard...

Was it a survey or just a valuation? If the latter you're probably out of luck, as the valuation wasn't for your benefit and you weren't the customer (the lender was). If a survey, you'll have to get proper legal advice.

As far as remortgaging goes, it sounds like you'd be better off going through a broker so they can choose an appropriate lender.

gameforalaugh

Ive just dug out my paperwork from the purchase of the house and we paid for the survey in 2004 which clearly stated standard construction.
We are already with a broker who is now looking into mortgages with lenders who dont have an issue with a LC house. Obviously as we didnt know about the construction of the house, he didnt know to ask or that our previous mortgage surveys were wrong. Our house is an end terrace of a block of 5, the other end terrace is still council owned and the records say that that is a LC house as is the one in the middle. I guess a LC house is classed as non standard construction because that is what Skipton is saying and so if I did pay for a structural report and it now confirmed what is most likely, I still wont get a mortgage with Skipton so I cant see the point of spending £500+ when most likely we have to start the mortgage procedure again. I presume this will be marked on my credit rating too? What I'd like to know is do we have to declare this to future buyers if we (my neighbour is looking to sell in a year) put it on the market? Should I also be informing my insurance company? Im unsure what the implications of having this construction type mean for the rest of our time living here, whether it will effect resale, as its a very nice estate in a very good area, good schools etc so the houses are sold/rented really quickly and I have never seen one mention anything about the construction. I still cant believe that 3 valuers have never picked up on it if it is this bothersome!