Repaired PRC - Remortgage

Raxiel

Our house is a 'repaired' former PRC Semi-detached 'Cornish Unit'. We've lived in it for about 4 1/2 years and will be coming to the end of our 5 year fix with Santander in the summer.

Wanting to get ahead of any potential rate rises, and wanting some cash to fund a new kitchen, we spoke to our current bank (Natwest) about remortgaging, who suggested some competitive rates, and after several hours with their mortgage advisor offered us a new mortgage that would clear the existing one, shave 8 months of the period, and lend an additional £10k for improvements, with the same monthly payment - subject to a valuation survey.

Unfortunately after the survey yesterday, they've withdrawn the offer because while our house has been repaired, next door hasn't. Natwest policy requires all homes of this type in a block to be repaired. Shame this wasn't communicated before we wasted several hours of our time and got a hard search on our files but what's done is done.

We need to find a lender that is willing to mortgage a repaired PRC home without considering the attached property(es)? Preferably one that can give us better rates than the 4.74% we will be on in the summer. Presumably Santander will be willing, since they did before (no guarantee), but no-one is available at my local branch to discuss it with me this week.

Can anyone offer any other suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks

Bundle13

Hi - do let me knwo if you hear anything . We have had the work done on ours and now find that loads of lenders won't touch them because our neighbour has not had theirs done. It's insane!! These are perfectly good houses - if next door falls down then both they and us are insured. We have a housing crisis in this country and lenders won't lend on houses that are considered structurally sound by a structural engineer.

Lisa030609

Hi,
I’d be interested to know which lender you eventually went with? My house is same as yours, it is repaired but my neighbours house is not repaired.
I am aware Halifax will lend on my house but Santander refused based on my neighbours house. Pretty much any lender, from what I have heard from others, will lend on a repaired PRC provided any adjoining property is also repaired.
I ended up going with nationwide which turned out to be a blessing as their interest rate was the lowest. Less than 1%. They valued my house at 195000 and I borrowed 120000.
There are so many warnings online about these repaired properties but the reality is that this is scare mongering.
Hope you got a good rate 👍🏻:)

Bundle13

Hello, we spoke to nationwide and they said they would t unless next doors was done! That was only in July... how frustrating but good for you!!!
We went with together in the end. They are a specialist lender but to be honest there customer service was amazing, 6 weeks from beginning to end, weekly update calls from them, genuinely couldn’t have been more helpful. Slightly higher rate but was so sick of the high street lenders being so unhelpful and “computer says no”. They can give no reason why they won’t mortgage the semi detached houses and you can’t find out. It’s crazy! When the work is done these are awesome properties, normally in great locations with lots of land... so glad you got one too!!

Lisa030609

Oh no. I’m sorry to have heard you had such a bad time of it but glad it’s sorted for you now. Fingers crossed for your next remortgage.
Yes, I love my house. It’s a Cornish type I. So lovely with the greenery, particularly in the summer, looks like a little cottage. It has more to offer than any other house I could find at the time I bought it in 2005. Lots of land, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I’m spoilt with my two bathrooms. Lol. I considered selling last year but when I looked at what was out there, nothing compared to my home and the cost of the houses were significantly higher for less of a house. Admittedly in 2005 I found that lenders who were willing to lend on my house were plentiful at that time but appear to have reduced since the financial crash. However, other than Santander I’ve not personally (so far) encountered any problems with a remortgage. Could it be geographical? 😕 lol.
I guess I feel I need to defend our lovely homes because people are often so down on them.
I hope you continue to enjoy your happy home 😊