Property with old electrics - Lenders? 30 November 2016 at 10:47PM in Mortgages & endowments 6 replies 607 views

aferrary

Hi all,

I've been reading a lot in this forum, however I am not able to find this info or some similar experience with a final feedback.

I am trying to buy a property of around £230k that requires some work, however my mortgage offer has been declined.

This attempt has been with Barclays and they have denied after asking for an electrical report and it came back as unsatisfactory and quoted around £1400 to get the work done.

Barclays doesn't do retention so it was basically a "no" without any further info about how to make this work.

The property was built in 1975 and the electrical is out of date (of course), however the vendor has no money to fix it and I can't fix without a contract (and the contract doesn't get signed before the mortgage offer).

I would appreciate similar experiences and which lenders are less fussy. I am interested in Halifax deals but any experience is welcome. I just want to know how to deal with such situation.

ACG

How bad are the electrics?

minimike2

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5565605


You would be better waiting for replies in one thread rather than starting multiple threads on the same issue

aferrary

Hi ACG,

You are an angel. I was just researching your posts about your situation. The electrical report came as unsatisfactory and the electrician said this is a fail and pass scenario and to get it to pass, all the work would need to be carried out.

The cost is £1400 and this is the list:
- Replacement consumer units and associated cabling.
- Installation of correct water bonding in surface trunking.
- Labelling and identification throughout.
- Investigate and isolate incorrect cables on socket circuit.
some minor extra and at the end:
This quotation will only provide a satisfactory certificate, however it would mean that no metal lights or switches will ever be able to be fitted as there is no earth to the lighting circuit. To rectify that the lighting would need rewiring and due to the age of the installation if the decision is made to Rewire the lights it would be sensible to rewire the property as a whole .

ACG

You need to find out who carried out the survey (I think it is Connells with Barclays?) and ensure you do not get the same surveyor going round.

aferrary

Hi minimike2,

I understand but the original thread was about whether or not Halifax does retention.

To be fair, the retention seems to be the best option.

Being so specific, this thread is more general. If I give up that property, I will probably try another one and I would like to know if old properties are accepted by lenders and which lenders are most likely to lend in similar situations.

If you read in my thread, I am not European and now I am trapped with few banks. But knowing how to deal with this situation, maybe I can give up this property and hope better future (wait for permanent residency) where I can choose the property I want and not the bank.

aferrary

Hi ACG,

How do I control that? Can I ask the bank to re-evaluate or are you mentioning the next bank?

Barclays hasn't asked or contacted me about the survey/valuation.

I had to pay and provide the electrical report that killed my chances in getting the mortgage. I've already spent a fair amount of money with the solicitor/conveyancing.