Mortgage Problem because of Unadopted roa

Bs91

I am a first time buyer and it has been nearly 14 weeks since we had our offer accepted and got our solicitor on the case.
All was going well and fast till the searches came back and we found out that the house is on an unadopted road. The mortgage lender are not budging on the fact that they want a formal agreement in place to maintain the road, but this simply does not exist there is an agreement but it is in no way formal.
This has now been going on for the last 6 weeks and I am at the end of my tether and thinking I should ditch the lender and broker (who i have not heard from in about 10 weeks) and apply through another mortgage company but am worried I could get the same problem.
Has anyone else been in this situation and can give some much needed advice please

Cakeguts

Who owns the road? Is it owned between all the houses or is it owned by one of the houses? Find out who owns the road and ask them what the agreement is.

Bs91

It is owned by all the homes. When I have spoken to the seller they explained that in the 9 years they have lived there they have never paid for the maintenance of the road but there are people in the street that do repairs or pay now and again for repairs. To be honest the road is in really good condition considering it is unadopted

G_M

* So there is a risk that everyone stops paying for repair and the road just deteriorates.

* There is a risk that those that pay may demand payment from, and sue, those that don't - resulting in costly and complex legal action.

* There is a risk that either of the 2 examples above could result in the property becoming unsaleable - meaning if you default on your mortgage and the lender repossesses, they (the lender) would be stuck with a) the problem and b) a financial loss

Across the country there are 1000s of roads like this, and the vast majority of them are no problem. The residents just amicably and infomally maintain the roads as & when, and this may well be (sounds like) what happens here.

But mortgage lenders hate risk, and in recent years have become increasingly risk-averse.

Yes, another lender may have a different attitude. A good broker might know which lenders would have a more flxible attitude (small local BS?), or try asking lenders directly?

Bs91

I am awaiting a final answer from my lender which will be given early next week. I think if they do decline to lend I will go directly to lenders myself. Just hope they haven't pondered this for 6 weeks to decline. My solicitor mentioned indemnity insurance but still said this may not be enough for the lender

EachPenny

What do the deeds say about the road? Do they not say anything about the maintenance, do they even give you the right to use the road? A common form of words it to say the property owner has the right to pass and repass in exchange for some kind of contribution towards the cost of maintenance. If there is nothing like this in the deeds then you might want to reconsider the whole purchase as if you cannot gain access to the property there is not much point owning it. It would be rather unusual for there not to be some kind of access rights though.

eddddy

Bs91 wrote: »

I am awaiting a final answer from my lender which will be given early next week. I think if they do decline to lend I will go directly to lenders myself. Just hope they haven't pondered this for 6 weeks to decline. My solicitor mentioned indemnity insurance but still said this may not be enough for the lender

If your lender is refusing to lend (and perhaps other lenders will as well), bear in mind that you may find it hard to re-sell the property when you decide to move on.

Future buyers may be put off by the problems you are finding.

FIRSTTIMER

Which lender is it?

melstar11

I would be tempted to see if the same lender has provided mortgages on any of the other houses by downloading the title register documents from the Land Registry.

eddddy

melstar11 wrote: »

I would be tempted to see if the same lender has provided mortgages on any of the other houses by downloading the title register documents from the Land Registry.

That's a good suggestion - but many lenders' attitudes have changed over the years.

And I think that solicitors are more diligent than they used to be about reporting potential problems to lenders.


As an example, I know somebody who has a Halifax mortgage on a flat above a pub, that was granted about 10 years ago.

Now no mainstream lender (including Halifax) will touch the flat.

Bs91

The lender is Lloyds TSB. I have also enquired with the council as to why the road is unadopted after such a long period of time.
If I did get a mortgage on the property I think I would seek to have a formal agreement with the residents in place as this is the only thing stopping the lender at the moment.
If it wasn't the perfect property I think we would have pulled out by now!