Mortgaging a property with 34 acres

EmmetMcKnight

Myself and my wife are struggling to mortgage a house with 34 acres of land, when we initially seen the property I contacted a local mortgage advisor who assured me that he could get us a mortgage to purchase the property, we put our own house on the market, had a sale agreed within a couple of weeks and had an offer accepted on the property with 34 acres, that was back in October. On Friday we hand over the keys of our home and we still haven’t secured a mortgage for the property we want to buy, we will be renting for the first time in our lives. The house we want to buy is a detached bungalow constructed circa 1910, recently renovated and comes with 9 fields which make up 34 acres, it’s not a farm, it never has been a working farm and we have no intention of becoming farmers, the previous owners had previously leased some fields for grazing but we simply want the land for our own space and to keep animals as pets and enjoy the country side. Affordability, credit ect aren’t a problem and we have a 20% deposit, we just can’t find a lender?

K_S

@emmetmcknight Any agricultural ties, agricultural occupancy restrictions, commercial usage at all? Any large permanent outbuildings? Is it all one piece of land?

Did the broker give a reason for not being able to place the case? Just the fact that it's 34 acres is unlikely to be a show stopper on its own.

Things do get complex over 10 acres and it's all done on a case by case basis, but if there's no commercial/agricultural aspect it should be placeable. You're unlikely to get mainstream interest rates though and depending on the lender, the LTV might be a limiting factor.

amnblog

Residential lenders are not interested in 34 acres of land. They will usually take the dwelling and the land around it as security but the rest is usually done on a commercial basis with a split title.

EmmetMcKnight

K_S said:

@emmetmcknight Any agricultural ties, agricultural occupancy restrictions, commercial usage at all? Any large permanent outbuildings? Is it all one piece of land?

Did the broker give a reason for not being able to place the case? Just the fact that it's 34 acres is unlikely to be a show stopper on its own.

Things do get complex over 10 acres and it's all done on a case by case basis, but if there's no commercial/agricultural aspect it should be placeable. You're unlikely to get mainstream interest rates though and depending on the lender, the LTV might be a limiting factor.

There are no agricultural ties, no agricultural occupancy restrictions and no commercial usage at all. There are two small permanent out buildings that I would consider workshop/garage/storage.

The broker said that no mainstream lender would lend on the 34 acres but he has in the past divid the folio and that’s the approach we went with, the seller agreed for us to buy the house and 10 acres on a mortgage and pay cash for the remaining 24 acres, we had maps done with an architect which went in with the application to Halifax, the house was surveyed for mortgage approval and the surveyor deemed it un mortgageable as there is no access to the 24 acres we would own outright apart from the lane way which will be going on the mortgage with the house and 10 acres, he said if the house was reprocessed from us how would we access our 24 acres.

I had the same rejection from our own bank, Ulster Bank.

The property can still be seen on www.propertypal.com the address is 68 Brockagh Rd, Eglinton, Londonderry, BT47 3HL

EmmetMcKnight

amnblog said:

Residential lenders are not interested in 34 acres of land. They will usually take the dwelling and the land around it as security but the rest is usually done on a commercial basis with a split title.

That’s the approach we took, house and 10 acres on mortgage and buy the remaining land outright. Halifax and Ulster Bank were not happy as the only access to the 24 acres is off the lane that would be on the mortgage and belong to that deed.

Thrugelmir

Only no 45 is visible on the agents website. 

EmmetMcKnight

Thrugelmir said:

Only no 45 is visible on the agents website. 

Ah, your right it’s only because I have it saved that I can see it. I’m not allowed to post a direct link as I’m only a new member.

You should be able to find it at www.propertypal.com/68-brockagh-road-eglinton-londonderry/640439

Thrugelmir

Says sale agreed but you haven't obtained a mortgage? 

EmmetMcKnight

Thrugelmir said:

Says sale agreed but you haven't obtained a mortgage? 

Yes sale agreed, we had a mortgage in principle. The sale of our own house was the same.

RW1708

Not sure if you have resolved this now but we purchased a similar plot a few years ago.  The process was eventually simple in that we split the title at purchase, separating the residence with a small plot (mortgageable) away from the land which now sits on its own, un-mortgaged title.  If there is any way to amend the contracts for the purchase then this is the easiest route to having a neat, mortgageable parcel. Not sure this will help at your stage but there might be a way to re-write the contract of sale if money hasn't changed hands.  Doesn't cost the seller anything.  Get simple plans drawn up for the split and away you go.