Help needed urgently - offset mortgage

mandm65

Hello from a newbie and like many starts with a problem

Looking for some advice on the following:

Problem 1:

I’m a British expat currently working in the Middle East. I secured an off-plan property (making payments in instalments rather than one lump sum) in Dubai and wanted to re-mortgage my house in England to fund the payments.

I read about the off set mortgages & thought this would be ideal for me as I can use my savings and borrow additional amount (if needed) to make payments.

I applied for Abbey flexi+ and I was advised that my current o/s balance is below 25K hence I need to borrow additional amount to make my o/s balance above 25K.

A few weeks back I went to England to get the mortgage organised and visited my local Abbey branch to apply for the additional amount & convert my mortgage to flexi+.

After several visit to the local branch and may phone calls I managed to get the additional amount – stage 1 completed.

But when I tried to convert the o/s balance to felxi+ I was advised that due to my circumstances (my current residence - expat) I am not entitled for the flexi+ mortgage.

I was in total shock, cos i told them the very same thing when i made the inital enquiry. Based on their confirmation i only made the commitment (paid 20% of the purchase price) to purchase the property and now I have been told that I am not entitled to what I have been promised? Obviously I complained and I was put though to a manager who promised to investigate the complaint and response to me within 48 hours.

Not sure what abbey will do to address this matter, if I didn’t qualify then I would not expect much from them. Not sure legally where do I stand?

Second problem:

My problem is that I have 80K (additional borrowed amount) sitting in my account to which I don’t have an urgent need. I would like to find a lender who would allow me (expat) to have an offset mortgage in England. I would appreciate your comments/views re problem one and/or two.

Cheers

mandm65

20 views and not a single response, must have asked the wrong question

Moggett

Both woolwich and NatWest will consider applications from expats and offer offset mortgages

homer_j_3

First things first. You took a risk committing to your overseas property before fully checking that the finances would stack up to see it through. I think its fair to say no right person would pay someone 20% deposit on the hope that they could find finance secondly. I would never take a phonecall as a given that the lender would committ.

You will have to wait and see what the abbey states but if you only applied for the additional borrowing to qualify for the flexi.

There may be options for your mortgage but I would seek professional advice to let them fully understand your circumstances.

mandm65

Moggett wrote: »

Both woolwich and NatWest will consider applications from expats and offer offset mortgages

thanks mate for the info, will contact them online.
cheers

mandm65

homer_j wrote: »

First things first. You took a risk committing to your overseas property before fully checking that the finances would stack up to see it through. I think its fair to say no right person would pay someone 20% deposit on the hope that they could find finance secondly. I would never take a phonecall as a given that the lender would committ.

You are probably right saying above, but my financial situation was as such that getting a re-mortgage was not issue, getting the right product was!

homer_j wrote: »

You will have to wait and see what the abbey states but if you only applied for the additional borrowing to qualify for the flexi.

Yep i certainly did, otherwise i could have gone to other lenders, in fact they waived the application fee for the additional borrowing cos i was expected to pay the application fee for flexi mortgage.

Abbey promised to come back to me within 48 hours to tell why their mortgage team or the local branch did not tell me that i would not qualify for the flexi? The 48 hours are gone but no sign of their response yet!

homer_j wrote: »

There may be options for your mortgage but I would seek professional advice to let them fully understand your circumstances.

Moggett has suggested a few lenders and before i go professional i will give them a go.

cheers

UK007BullDog

NatWest might consider but it depends on many issues also regarding the ex-pat situation. But as the OP has already contacted the lender they will give him the right information for him to make a decision.

mandm65

yep applied online and now waiting for natwest to comeback with a decision!
cheers

mandm65

does anyone knows how long natwest take before they respond to your online application?

Moggett

If you applied on Thursday night/Friday am then you should at least have an agreement in principle by late Monday. If you haven't heard by Tuesday am then chase them up. The service at Nat West has been a bit patchy of late though!

mandm65

thanks Moggett mate, much appreciated, will give them a chase if i don't hear by Tuesday.