COVID-19 Mortgage offer expiring

wazza07

Hi,
Our house purchase has been put on hold for the foreseeable as have many I imagine due to COVID-19. We were due to exchange next week but our vendor has asked for 4 weeks between exchange and completion to give him time to find a rental. However, it's obviously impossible to view any rentals at the moment.  Four weeks between the two in this current climate is insane so that's a whole other issue to tackle. In regards to our mortgage offer which expires on the 24th May (which I know is still approx eight weeks away). Do banks normally give any provision for extensions? Or is it just a case of a new application? We've never been in this situation so I'm not too sure what the normal protocol is. I've given up trying to get through to Santander at the moment as their lines are very busy as expected. 

David_White

Most lenders are relatively flexible when it comes to extensions of a month, the landscape has changed somewhat though.
There is a possibility that the lender will want to reassure themselves that your job roles/income are stable as even before current events there's always been an obligation to notify lenders when there's a significant change to circumstances.

Thrugelmir

wazza07 said:

I've given up trying to get through to Santander at the moment as their lines are very busy as expected. 

With eight weeks to go. I'd suggest being patient and see how events unfold for a while. Events are moving daily. The biggest concern is probably whether your vendor is going to move anytime soon. 

wazza07

Thrugelmir said:

wazza07 said:

I've given up trying to get through to Santander at the moment as their lines are very busy as expected. 

With eight weeks to go. I'd suggest being patient and see how events unfold for a while. Events are moving daily. The biggest concern is probably whether your vendor is going to move anytime soon. 

Yeah the whole thing is quite frustrating and we just wished our vendor was more proactive in trying to find a rental before all this happened. I guess if he isn't able to move in time then he runs the risk of losing the sale and in this current climate I personally wouldn't want to risk that.