Challenging a designated defective categorisation

abz777

I am in the process of selling a property to my daughter and her partner but their mortgager's surveyor has said that he cannot value the property as it is of a designated defective type & requires an approved repair scheme. He also states that it is unitroy system built.

My parents bought the property in 1996 from someone who had bought it since defective properties were designated and they had a mortgage on it. My father approached a surveyor he knew who refused to do a survey stating that the house is a Wates house the same as the ones in the Local Authority estate that the house backs on to. It is not, it was part of a self-build group: they bought the land and built the whole row of houses themselves to live in. We spoke at length to some of the people who built them & although there is some concrete in them it is very little. It is certainly not pre fab or concrete or steel framed.

The survey my parents had done in 1996 did not classify it as being designated defective. When the house was left to me in 2008 again there was no mention of it being designated defective and it was valued at £160,000. I took a mortgage out on it to buy another property in 2009/10 & again there was no mention of it being designated defective. There is currently an identical property in this row of houses on the market for £175,000.

Can anyone advise whether it is possible for a house that has changed hands several times in the last 30 years to now be classed as designated defective? I have gone through the list of designated defective properties & none of them match the build of my house. I cannot see how I can have a property worth £160,000 one minute to being told I can't sell it the next! How do I go about setting this straight so that my daughter can purchase the house?

G_M

abz777 wrote: »

Can anyone advise whether it is possible for a house that has changed hands several times in the last 30 years to now be classed as designated defective?
yes, perfectly possible. Catagories, classifications etc change.
I have gone through the list of designated defective properties & none of them match the build of my house.
Strange
I cannot see how I can have a property worth £160,000 one minute to being told I can't sell it the next!
Because when you bought it it was not classified that way.
How do I go about setting this straight so that my daughter can purchase the house?

Your daughter could
* ask the mortgage lender to review the classification -possibly the lender would ask the surveyor to review his report, or the lender might instruct a new surveyor to get a 2d opinion. However this is not an easy process

* apply to a different lender and hope that their surveyor would come to a different opinion. Providing the surveyor with relevant facts/evidence when he does the valuation might help

However your daughter should also be aware that she might hit the same issue when she comes to sell.........

abz777

Thank you for your reply. Do you know where I can find the current classifications and categories that are designated defective? All I've been able to find in my research are those listed under the 1984 and 1985 Housing Acts.

G_M

A quick google found:

http://www.halifax-intermediaries.co.uk/criteria/mortgage/default.aspx?filter=U

Unacceptable Construction Types
Unrepaired, designated defective properties under the Housing Act 1985, Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 are not acceptable

abz777

That's my confusion, properties were designated defective in the 1980's. I cannot find anything that says other categories have been added or classifications changed so as it has never been designated defective when it has been surveyed several times since 1985, how can it be now?

davidmcn

abz777 wrote: »

That's my confusion, properties were designated defective in the 1980's. I cannot find anything that says other categories have been added or classifications changed so as it has never been designated defective when it has been surveyed several times since 1985, how can it be now?

Because surveyors don't always get it right, and individual lenders' policies differ (and may have changed over the years).

abz777

Thank you. This surveyor is one who hasn't got it right because he states that it is designated defective. Now we're left with trying to get that corrected!

G_M

abz777 wrote: »

Thank you. This surveyor is one who hasn't got it right because he states that it is designated defective. Now we're left with trying to get that corrected!

which brings us back to:

Your daughter could
* ask the mortgage lender to review the classification -possibly the lender would ask the surveyor to review his report, or the lender might instruct a new surveyor to get a 2d opinion. However this is not an easy process

* apply to a different lender and hope that their surveyor would come to a different opinion. Providing the surveyor with relevant facts/evidence when he does the valuation might help

abz777

Thank you, that looks like it is our next step! My daughter has already spoken to the surveyor's office but the surveyor wasn't available. They just reiterated that it was designated defective but couldn't state what type of build it was. They did admit to seeing where we were coming from but said to appeal we have to find 3 similar properties that have sold in the last 6 months. That's not possible as there are only 30-40 of the properties in the row to compare it with! It's just frustrating! Thanks for your advice.

skintandfat

Ask them to review their decision and find out if they are a member of a trade body- a call to the trade body helpline sometimes helps