Scottish Widows / General Mortgage Advise for House Move

LessThanSte

Morning all,

 

We've stumbled across a house nearby that we are very keen on, which is not currently on the market but is owned by friends of friends. We will be discussing their plans with them soon.

 

We currently have a mortgage, though are in the middle of a fixed term (so would be subject to an early repayment charge if we dont stay with the same lender). The amount of charge is not huge, and we would consider paying it if it meant we could get the house.

 

We've spoken with our mortgage advisor (who works for himself rather than being a large company (e.g. L&C)) who has advised that, through Scottish Widows, the maximum loan is capped based on LTV - which may leave us a little short (~2-3%) of where we think we need to be (based on our valuation and the price we hope we could purchase for). Similarly, when having checked other providers (assuming we paid the ERC), he gets a similar outcome. I should add that we are happy with the mortgage advisor - he was passed to us via a local estate agent and has processed our first purchase plus 2 remortgages since. He ticks all the boxes that you'd expect of a mortgage advisor (i.e. whole of market) so not necessarily looking to change.

 

My questions;

1. is there any real value in checking via someone else, e.g. L&C?
2. the loan cap has come about through his direct contact with Scottish Widows. Is there any value in me contacting them directly and, if so, is there any likelihood of increasing the cap (e.g. as a 'valued' customer)? In other words, is the cap a hard and fast rule, or open to a bit of flexibility/discretion.

 

Any advice happily received.

 

 

amnblog

1. No
2. No