B&B

loubel

They are not working against you. They have a duty both to you and to your lender to check the planning status of the property. 

davidmcn

Kaz1000 said:

Hey Davidmcn, now that the solicitor is going to ask the bank if they are certain the residential mortgage is okay for a property that was used for a B&B. It is likely the bank will have second thoughts and reject it. I would have preferred someone on our team working for us rather than against us. Our intention is just to a get a lovely family home. 

Why do you think it's likely the bank will have second thoughts, if you're sure they were already happy to proceed?

Your solicitor isn't "working against you", but they are also working for the lender, they're not allowed to brush things under the carpet (any more than they're allowed to hide things from you which favour the lender). And if you don't like that principle, the only alternative would be to ask the lender to instruct a separate solicitor (which you'd be paying for, and who would also undoubtedly report the same thing to the lender).

AdrianC

Kaz1000 said:

now that the solicitor is going to ask the bank if they are certain the residential mortgage is okay for a property that was used for a B&B. It is likely the bank will have second thoughts and reject it.

But you already asked the lender... And the lender do NEED to be aware of all material factors.

I would have preferred someone on our team working for us rather than against us.

They are working for you.
They are also working for the lender.

They are not going to hide pertinent information from the lender. They can't.

If a particular lender won't lend against this property because of its previous use, then do you really think it's wise to dissemble to get a mortgage they would not have given if they knew the truth?

Kaz1000

davidmcn said:

Kaz1000 said:

Hey Davidmcn, now that the solicitor is going to ask the bank if they are certain the residential mortgage is okay for a property that was used for a B&B. It is likely the bank will have second thoughts and reject it. I would have preferred someone on our team working for us rather than against us. Our intention is just to a get a lovely family home. 

Why do you think it's likely the bank will have second thoughts, if you're sure they were already happy to proceed?

Your solicitor isn't "working against you", but they are also working for the lender, they're not allowed to brush things under the carpet (any more than they're allowed to hide things from you which favour the lender). And if you don't like that principle, the only alternative would be to ask the lender to instruct a separate solicitor (which you'd be paying for, and who would also undoubtedly report the same thing to the lender).

We hired this solicitor and paying him for the purchase of the property. The bank didn't give us any solicitor.

Kaz1000

AdrianC said:

Kaz1000 said:

now that the solicitor is going to ask the bank if they are certain the residential mortgage is okay for a property that was used for a B&B. It is likely the bank will have second thoughts and reject it.

But you already asked the lender... And the lender do NEED to be aware of all material factors.

I would have preferred someone on our team working for us rather than against us.

They are working for you.
They are also working for the lender.

They are not going to hide pertinent information from the lender. They can't.

If a particular lender won't lend against this property because of its previous use, then do you really think it's wise to dissemble to get a mortgage they would not have given if they knew the truth?

The concern is using a residential mortgage for residential use.. and that is the sole purpose of the mortgage. Around 5 B&Bs are up for sale in this area due to the pandemic putting them out of use. We are buying one which is a mid terraced Victorian home that the previous owner converted the use to B&B but closed down their business beginning last year.
We already have a mortgage with this lender and therefore it was easy to get the second one however they did a thorough valuation.
I know for all the lender will stand their ground and say they trust us to use the property for the intention specified on our application (residential use). But if the solicitor we have was negative from the start saying they won't provide for a B&B, what is the point of having him?
Are we supposed to get a commercial mortgage for the B&B and lie about the purpose of its use? That we are gonna use it as a B&B when in reality we only use it for residential?

davidmcn

Kaz1000 said:

Are we supposed to get a commercial mortgage for the B&B and lie about the purpose of its use? That we are gonna use it as a B&B when in reality we only use it for residential?

No, what people would normally do is get planning consent for the change of use before completing the purchase. And it isn't normal for residential mortgage lenders to accept anything which doesn't already have consent for residential use. But you seem certain that in this case your lender is relaxed about it. Your solicitor however has probably received a standard set of mortgage instructions, which require him to flag up things like not having residential planning permission. So that's what he's doing. Up to the lenders to then say "oh yes, we already know all about that, it's fine".

Kaz1000

davidmcn said:

Kaz1000 said:

Are we supposed to get a commercial mortgage for the B&B and lie about the purpose of its use? That we are gonna use it as a B&B when in reality we only use it for residential?

No, what people would normally do is get planning consent for the change of use before completing the purchase. And it isn't normal for residential mortgage lenders to accept anything which doesn't already have consent for residential use. But you seem certain that in this case your lender is relaxed about it. Your solicitor however has probably received a standard set of mortgage instructions, which require him to flag up things like not having residential planning permission. So that's what he's doing. Up to the lenders to then say "oh yes, we already know all about that, it's fine".

Thanks Davidmcn. We emailed the planning Division of the council to see how to go about changing use and also if it is necessary to be done before we move in. Fingers crossed we hear something in the coming days.

Thrugelmir

Kaz1000 said:

davidmcn said:

Kaz1000 said:

Hey Davidmcn, now that the solicitor is going to ask the bank if they are certain the residential mortgage is okay for a property that was used for a B&B. It is likely the bank will have second thoughts and reject it. I would have preferred someone on our team working for us rather than against us. Our intention is just to a get a lovely family home. 

Why do you think it's likely the bank will have second thoughts, if you're sure they were already happy to proceed?

Your solicitor isn't "working against you", but they are also working for the lender, they're not allowed to brush things under the carpet (any more than they're allowed to hide things from you which favour the lender). And if you don't like that principle, the only alternative would be to ask the lender to instruct a separate solicitor (which you'd be paying for, and who would also undoubtedly report the same thing to the lender).

We hired this solicitor and paying him for the purchase of the property. The bank didn't give us any solicitor.

You are also paying the lenders legal costs. Which in reality account for the majority of the time spent. 

AdrianC

Kaz1000 said:

AdrianC said:

Kaz1000 said:

now that the solicitor is going to ask the bank if they are certain the residential mortgage is okay for a property that was used for a B&B. It is likely the bank will have second thoughts and reject it.

But you already asked the lender... And the lender do NEED to be aware of all material factors.

I would have preferred someone on our team working for us rather than against us.

They are working for you.
They are also working for the lender.

They are not going to hide pertinent information from the lender. They can't.

If a particular lender won't lend against this property because of its previous use, then do you really think it's wise to dissemble to get a mortgage they would not have given if they knew the truth?

The concern is using a residential mortgage for residential use.. and that is the sole purpose of the mortgage.
Are we supposed to get a commercial mortgage for the B&B and lie about the purpose of its use?

But you're buying the property for solely residential use...

Why wouldn't a residential mortgage cover the property for residential use?

Whether the local authority ALLOW you to use the property for solely residential use without applying for change-of-usage-class is a different question entirely. One thing's for sure, the worst that'll happen there is that if they do wag a finger at you, you apply for retrospective permission, if you haven't already applied for it...

edgex

Council have said the property was paying Council Tax, not Business Rates
Your buying a property, that was originally built & used as a residential property, not the business.

Why would the bank have an issue?
All their checking is that it isn't a dodgy conversion of somewhere that was built as a hotel & doesn't have permission to be residential.