Cladding of a combustible nature

asm89

Which HA is it out of interest?

Principeingles

I am still waiting to hear back from Santander. They rejected the mortgage at the end of august. The buyers mortgage broker appealed and they agreed to look at the case again. It came back negative two weeks ago because they said all the documents had been sent electronically. We have now sent them hard copies of all the cladding reports etc and now waiting to hear from them. Not sure if it is a good sign or if they are just messing around with us.

This is a mess

asm89

Principeingles wrote: »

I am still waiting to hear back from Santander. They rejected the mortgage at the end of august. The buyers mortgage broker appealed and they agreed to look at the case again. It came back negative two weeks ago because they said all the documents had been sent electronically. We have now sent them hard copies of all the cladding reports etc and now waiting to hear from them. Not sure if it is a good sign or if they are just messing around with us.

This is a mess

Did the building manager commission an official test?

vany

Hi again,

As mention in a previous post, I email led my local MP in Brighton and Hove who I feel was very effective with her response (see below) and is hopefully taking it further to the Housing Minister. By no means am I any closer to swing and end result and in the meantime keep fighting the Housing Association for their support. I am now into the double payments as my mortgage deal has ended so I’m definitely continuing with my crusade between RICS and Housing Association.



Dear Xxxxxx,

Thank you for your email, and I apologise for the delay in coming back to you.

I was concerned to read your email and can appreciate your frustration about this issue. As such, I would be happy to forward your complaint to the Ombudsman as you request, for their consideration. I can forward on your email below which outlines the issue, but do please let me know if there is any further information that you would like to be sent along with this?

Additionally, I share your wish to know about the Government's view on this and as such, with your permission, I would like to contact the Minister responsible to ask that they confirm their stance on this guidance and what obligation Housing Associations have to stick to the guidance that the Department have issued for buildings such as yours? I would like to highlight your case as an example of someone who has become victim to this uncertainty, and ask what next steps they suggest that you could take on this. Do please let me know if you would be happy for me to share your details and I can action tihs right away.

I am mindful that with both a query with the Ombudsman and the Minister it may take some time to recieve responses. I would therefore recommend, if you haven't already, that you might wish to seek specialist advice from an organisation able to advise on housing issues. Given housing law is complex, it may be beneficial to see if they can suggest any other actions in the interim.I would suggest the Brighton Housing Trust and you can find their contact details here: xxxxxxxx . Additionally, it might be helpful to get in touch with Citizen's Advice, who may be able to provide some advice or assistance also. Bearing in mind timeframes, it might also be useful to be aware of the University of Sussex Law Clinic, as it might be a quicker route to accessing some legal advice on housing law. More information can be found online here: xxxxx

Do please let me know if you would be happy for me to contact both the Minister and the Housing Ombudsman as I would be keen to try and get more information from the Government on this. Do please also let me know if there is anything else I can assist with in the interim.

Best wishes,

Caroline



Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion

haras_nosirrah

Vany

While you can't remortgage to another lender you should be able to product transfer onto another rate. Who is your lender?

Principeingles

Hi Asm89,

Just found out today the mortgage was rejected again. The reason they have given is:

"Cladding of a potentially combustible nature may have been used in the construction of this property. Further information is required before the property can be considered for mortgage lending purposes. (cont'd above in General Observations). Confirmation from a chartered professional with relevant experience in fire safety, such as a chartered engineer registered with the Engineering Council by the institution of Fire Engineers, or a chartered professional from another built environment profession specialising in fire safety consultancy, such as the Chartered institute of Architectural technologists, Charted institution of building services engineers, institution of structural engineers, Royal institution of chartered surveyors, the chartered institute of building & the society Facade Engineers, that all the cladding meets current government guidance on cladding and external fire spread is required. Other documents such as fire risk assessments or individual product technical information sheets are not considered satisfactory evidence of compliance and should not be provided"

Apparently the housing association are getting a certificate from the managing agent that should comply with the MHCLG advice note 14. It should arrive next week, apparently. Let's see....

haras_nosirrah

The reality of the situation from the other side of the desk is that no lenders are lending on properties above 6 stories which have any kind of cladding unless MHCLG reports are done and can be provided.

Before any buyer wastes their money on a survey ask the vendor or estate agent if this report has already been done. If the answer is no it is not mortgagable at the moment and won't be until the situation changes and the lenders are less strict or these reports are provided.

Prior to july people were getting them through. Since July it won't happen. This has become very clear recently.

If people say to the housing associations and management companies that they aren't going to buy without the report they may pull their fingers out and actually get them sorted. It is pointless spending money on a survey until this is done.

If the block is under 6 stories or 18m (the lower of the two) you have better odds. I got a mortgage offer out last week for someone without needing the reports but on these cases I would go with a lender with a free valuation even if the rate is slightly higher as it will be down to surveyors discretion.

EC3D

I have seen online that the FPA (Fire Protection Association) did a fire test report for the MHCLG. I'm not sure if Building Owners/Management Agents can contact them to do reports for residential buildings, but for those having trouble looking for fire safety companies perhaps they might be one to try?

Rima1

That's excellent, Vany!

Would you mind sharing the email (no personal details of course!) that you sent to get that good response? I think we ALL need to raise this issue quickly and reach to the relevant government minister as I fear this is going to trigger a vast increase in bankruptcy and repossessions. In my recent experience, I've been declined by several banks and current provider is severely increasing the monthly cost.

What baffles me the most - each building has buildings insurance which will pay out for the cost of rebuilding should a fire occur. Therefore a bank's concern should be focused on its risk remaining after the insurer has paid the claim. Given LTI's are so much lower now, meaning their exposure to eroded value after a fire is almost non-existent, I'm struggling to understand the belligerence that banks are displaying...

This needs Government intervention, fast. We all need to do our bit.

davidmcn

Rima1 wrote: »

What baffles me the most - each building has buildings insurance which will pay out for the cost of rebuilding should a fire occur. Therefore a bank's concern should be focused on its risk remaining after the insurer has paid the claim.

No, the much more likely risk to the bank is that they repossess and then can't find anybody willing to buy the property from them (which is of course a chicken and egg situation where potential buyers can't get funding from lenders...).