Help please!

elvis_girl

Hi, I thought I would lay this all out & hope that someonecan give me some advice. I currently have a mortgage paying some outrageous interest (7% or something) so am trying to get a remortgage. Found a good deal with Abbey with free valuation so decided to go for it . When the valuation came back it said that he had found evidence of structural movement & they wanted an independant report. I went & got that (cost about £400) and it said that there had been movement at some time but there would be no way to tell without a years monitoring of the cracks found. When I sent the report to Abbey they pulled the deal completely but wont give an exact reason other than "it falls outside current lending criteria". My questions are thus: Will I not be able to get another mortgage from anywhere else without fixing the problem? Should I just plaster up the cracks, say nowt & apply somewhere else, as I was only planning on staying there another year or so? By the way its a g/f flat joined by 3 other flats (all moving also presumably!) I've been there almost 3 years. Answers and/or any other advice appreciated!

elvis_girl

Can anyone even point me in the right direction for help if they can't help here? Thnx

lynnexxxo

Hi

If you are only planning on staying there for another year, it may be easier just to stay on your current rate. Many deals have high early repayment charges and high intial fees, so paying £499 or so to secure a better rate would not be cost effective.

Did these cracks show up on the survey you had done when you moved into the flat? Speak to your neighbours, do they know anything about them? What age is the flats? If they are less than 10 years old then they should have a NHBC. If the cracks are going to show up on a survey, then anyone who is thinking of buying your flat will pick these up too - making your house difficult to sell.

I think you seriously have to consider getting these cracks investigated - maybe your neighbours would be willing to split the cost.

elvis_girl

Thanks for that. You have got a point regarding the fees (they were something like £1500.00 though no early repayment charges with current lender). The flats are about 15 years old and I think the cracks were there when I bought but I didn't get a homebuyers survey (to my shame!) and they didn't show up on the valuation so I didn't worry about it (in my defence I was a first time buyer). The thing about investigation means it could take at least a year and as far as I'm aware neighbours all have mortgages & I'm the only one who seems to have a problem. Should I just get a loan & get fixed myself as it will cost about £5k to repair. If I don't am I unlikely to get a remortgage if the abbey turned me down?

lynnexxxo

Even if your neighbours don't have a problem with the cracks just now (ie not remortgaging or selling) they may have a problem when they go to sell/remortgage.

Where exactly are the cracks, are they inside your flat, in the common areas or outside? Do you have a factor who maintains the common areas? They might be able to help.

The other (albeit slightly dishonest thing) to do is to get the cracks plastered over, put the flat on the market at a competitive price and hope that the prospective buyers simply get a valuation done!

elvis_girl

The cracks are outside all the flats (there are none inside mine anyway) and there are no common areas so no management company. I know plastering over the crack & saying nothing seems dishonest, but I think thats what was done on me!

lynnexxxo

What would happen if the roof was leaking our something? Who would be responsible for fixing it - i would assume there would be something in your deeds about communal repairs.

Anyway, if it has to get monitored for a year, then that scuppers the chance of you getting a quick and easy sale.

I'd be tempted to agree with you about plastering the cracks - Caveat emptor and all of that.

elvis_girl

I kind of wondered that too (must check the deeds about communal repairs) I don't really want to go down the route of monitoring either because of the length of time. Thanks for your help.