Ex-council open deck access flat - who's your lender?

Uplink

Hi,

I'm buying an open deck access* flat in London. I spoke to two brokers so far, and one says Santander are good with this type of property, but another said Nationwide would accept it too. The Nationwide deal is better than the Santander one, so obviously I'd prefer Nationwide. I'm also a Nationwide main current account holder, and I'd prefer to stick with them if feasible.

Is anybody here who got a mortgage on this type of property recently? What was your experience? Who did you end up with? Were they your first choice? If they were not, who were the others that turned you down and what did they say? Thanks.

I'm buying it on the open market, not right to buy.

*open deck access: there's a long communal balcony on each floor and every flat's front door opens onto it.

ACG

It tends to be a problem, unless you are in London.

If both brokers are confident and one is suggesting a better deal, presumably there are no upfront fees to the brokers? If not, go with whichever is your preference, that might be a cheaper deal, it may be a quicker lender or it might be the broker you get on with/trust most.

Uplink

I'm in London. The property is across the road from Canary Wharf.

One broker charges a fee and says the Nationwide quote is suitable.

The other broker doesn't charge any fees and says "I can get you that same deal, but be aware it's a roll of the dice and I stand by my recommendation you go with Santander".

So... I decided to do this: Told the second broker to get a Nationwide AIP for me.

What I would like though is to have some anecdotes on the topic. The Internet is pretty empty of success stories for this segment of the market and the lenders barely say a word.

kingstreet

Uplink wrote: »

So... I decided to do this: Told the second broker to get a Nationwide AIP for me

An AIP has nothing to do with the property, so the result will tell you only that Nationwide will lend to you.

BTW there is nothing in Nationwide's criteria that says they do/don't accept deck-access flats;-

http://www.nationwide-intermediary.co.uk/lendingcriteria/property_and_construction/lending_for_flats

I'd be getting an email from Property Policy/Property Risk forwarded by my BDM confirming the property is acceptable security before I start messing about with credit checks.

Uplink

I did a lot of homework up to now.

I've read that page in the past. It says it's up to the valuer. As far as I can tell the information I'm looking for is barely disclosed, and even then on "intermediaries" websites, not the retail ones.

Both brokers claim experience when making their recommendations. Both brokers seem able to get me only the exact deals I'm finding myself on the Nationwide and Santander websites. I'm not going direct because I do want a professional to handle things for me.

I know the AIP has nothing to do with the property. And in this particular case I also know that Nationwide do a hard search.

As far as my immediate future is concerned, this is decided. I'll get the Nationwide AIP, and make a full application immediately after, because I'm at that step of the process. No need to worry, I had a soft AIP in the past from Halifax so I'm not jumping in blind.

Plan B: if Nationwide don't like it, go with Santander

Plan C: if sale falls through completely, there are other, more conventional properties and winter discount season started just after I got my offer accepted, and hey, I have a Nationwide AIP and I won't be credit checked a second time when I make a full application while it's valid (they say I need to remind them not to though).

If nobody else chips in with their real life experience, at least I will provide some data points (with a chance of "what a stupid decision that was") in the following weeks

Mortgage_Adviser

You do realise though that Nationwide DIP is a hard search?

Uplink

Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

You do realise though that Nationwide DIP is a hard search?

Yep. I said so in the fourth paragraph of my previous reply: "And in this particular case I also know that Nationwide do a hard search."

Uplink

I'm not sure anybody realises what's missing from this thread. Messages that look like this:

"Yeah, I bought an ex-council open deck access flat with a mortgage (in year Y, area A). My lender is X. I also tried Z and got rejected. Hope this helps"

If you know anything like that please leave a reply.

Cheers

amnblog

I’m a bit baffled here.

You say you do not want to go direct, yet seem to lack the confidence to go with either Broker.

edcldn

I re-mortgaged my London ex-council flat with open deck access with Natwest just over two years ago. I am not sure if re-mortgaging is easier than getting a first mortgage. My broker didn't seem to think that in London there was a shortage of possible lenders, and I got a rate I was very happy with.

Hope this is useful.

Maxwell007

Was your ex council flat above 5 floor !?!?