Got Mortgage Offer today BUT...

akorn77 · 25 February 2020 at 5:09PM

Got my mortgage offer today from Halifax, but the offer letter contains errors. I'm utterly horrified and baffled about the ridiculous errors Halifax have made.

Firstly, the address is wrong - my solicitor is going to get the conveyancing team to amend it.

Secondly, the lease length is wrong. Offer letter states 100 years, EA told me it was 98 years and the Land Registry says 95 years. Unbelievable. Thankfully the ground rent is £10 so in real terms a difference of 3 years on the lease, equates to about £800 on a lease extension which I'm not too fussed about.

The address can be amended easily, but do you think the lease length has to be amended too? Given that its not a major difference and I dont wish to renegotiate the price, I wouldnt think that it would need to be?

Whats_your_forte · 25 February 2020 at 5:15PM

Address is more likely the Surveyor.

Lease is easy to do. Get the correct details from the Solicitor and then furnish this to the lender. Amendments would be 48 hours at most so if in the early stages, nothing to worry about.

akorn77 · 25 February 2020 at 5:16PM

Whats_your_forte said:

Address is more likely the Surveyor.

Lease is easy to do. Get the correct details from the Solicitor and then furnish this to the lender. Amendments would be 48 hours at most so if in the early stages, nothing to worry about.

Would the lease length impact their valuation, though? I worry that they'll need to take it back to pre-offer and amend their valuation. I used Halifax 2 years ago and they were brilliant - this time round they are a nightmare.

Also, I'm baffled how the largest lender in the country can get the address wrong on a flat in Zone 2 of London thats been there for 100+ years.

Whats_your_forte · 25 February 2020 at 5:19PM

Only way the valuation would be affected by the lease if under 70 years.

[Deleted User] · 25 February 2020 at 5:26PM

akorn77 said:
Also, I'm baffled how the largest lender in the country can get the address wrong on a flat in Zone 2 of London thats been there for 100+ years.

You are blaming Halifax but they are just a company formed of individuals. It appears to be human error somewhere and it easily fixable. The lease difference wont change the valuation and the address will be updated.

akorn77 · 25 February 2020 at 5:26PM

Whats_your_forte said:

Only way the valuation would be affected by the lease if under 70 years.

Hope so

kingstreet · 25 February 2020 at 5:45PM

The lease term is always confirmed by solicitor to lender regardless of what is put on the application.

Windofchange · 25 February 2020 at 5:45PM

Yeah they got my address wrong too - omitted the first two lines so my letter was simply addressed to me and my partner, London. Not sure the postmen of London know us that well. Broker called up and all fixed. Seems to be a common problem with them.