Refused mortgage due to damp

New_Boy

I'm new here and hope this is in the right place.

I'm looking for a little advice.
A quick backstory - we have sold our house and moved into my father in laws house. We got a good lump sum from our house sale and won't be paying rent where we currently are. My father in law is a builder and we are looking for a property to rennovate.

We've found a property which looks suitable which we've made an offer on and been accepted. The bungalow has been empty for 20 years and obviously has damp issues, which isn't a problem for us because we intend to strip it back to brickwork and put in planning for a second floor.

Anyway, we're going to put down a 20% deposit and applied through Halifax (through a seperate mortgage advisor) they sent a surveyor round who has reported back that there is an unfinished dormer extention which is leaking water (we knew this) + some damp and timber infestation which we need to get a specialist to take a look at.

My father in law got permission to go and patch up the roof since it only took him an hour or so and we sent the invoice to the mortgage company. They said that the property can now be classed as habitable but we'll need to get a specialist to look at the damp and timber infestation and any remedial works will need to be completed before they can offer a mortgage.

I've arranged for an independent damp specialist to do a survey and they reported back with a recommendation for works that total about £9000 - £10,000

Only around £1000 of that is for timber treatments and the rest is for damp proofing and replastering which can be done by my father in law but we didn't intend to do that straight away since it would be pointless if we are extending the bungalow anyway.

So this is where I'm getting confused. Surely we can't be expected to carry out work on a property that we don't even own?

• Will the mortgage company force us to have this work carried out before they will lend us any money?
• Should I be looking at a different lender/specialist rennovation lender?

I'm pretty new to this and trying to work it all out and understand everything. I undertsand that the mortgage company has to cover themselves and this is a bigger risk than a standard mortgage but we're putting a decent sized deposit down and the land that is with the property is a very good size and in one of the most expensive/sought after areas where we're from.

G_M

As you plan fairly extensive renovation, I suspect you will need a specialist mortgage.


Will you be moving into the property straight away? Ie will it immediately become your main residence? Or will you stay with your in-laws while doing renovation?


If the latter, you'll need specialist insurance as well as specilist mortgage. Go back and see your independant mortgage broker, or find a broker who specialises in non-residential mortgages.