Surveyor said my flat was worth the money but I can't sell or remortage 3 years later.

hlamming

My flat is non-standard build of concrete. I got divorced 3 years ago and sank my entire settlement into buying a property. I had no credit rating - that all stayed with my husband when we separated financially - even my credit card and mortagage were paid from his account. I hired a surveyor post-Grenfell to determine that the flat I bought and subsequently refurbished would hold it's value. Three years down the line and I want to sell or remortage to buy a retirement property and I've discovered that my flat is essentially worthless.It's got nothing to do with cladding; it's the construction. Nobody can buy it and nobody will lend on it. I've tried 3 mortgage brokers and all lenders turned it down. A finacial advisor advised me to lay a claim against the Surveyor. The Surveyor says it's not his problem. My life's savings are sunk in this flat and I'm stuck; it's worthless. What can I do?

user1977

For a claim you'd need to get an expert opinion (i.e. from another surveyor) that the first one was negligent. What did they actually say about the construction?

Bear in mind any claim can't be with the benefit of hindsight e.g. nobody would have known at the time about future changes in lenders' criteria.

hazyjo

The surveyor actually said it would hold its value in the future, or that it should increase in value once refurbished (at that point in time)? I find it very hard to believe any professional would guarantee a price increase in 3 years' time! Look what's happened with Covid etc, plus 3 years ago, prices had been fairly static in many areas.

You could auction it. Or look for investors who want it as a rental.

robatwork

Please redact his report for any personal information and put it up here, so we can see his exact words. The exact phraseology here is significant.

deannagone

If its unmortgageable, you need to look for a cash buyer.  I know you said its made of concrete but what sort of non standard is it?  I have heard of people putting a brick shell on some houses but not sure that would be suitable.  It would cost but lenders would be happier to make a loan on it then.  Hopefully you now have some kind of credit rating.

You could try the mortgage board on this forum.  Lots of brokers on there who may be able to offer more advice.

AdrianC

hlamming said:

I hired a surveyor post-Grenfell to determine that the flat I bought and subsequently refurbished would hold it's value.

That's very unlikely.

What you would have hired a surveyor to do was give his opinion of whether it was worth that price at that time.

Surveyors have many skills, but psychic abilities are not amongst them.

[Deleted User]

So are there no other flats in the block that have sold / gone on the market at all? I’m assuming everyone has the same issue?

hlamming

It's an ex-council flat and many are still owned by the council. I've had it on the market for a year at £25000 less than the estate agents said it was worth, and there'a been a couple of people interested and come back for second looks but then they can't get a mortgage. Then I tried to remortgage and no lenderse will touch it. 

hlamming

The exact words were: " In my opinion the Market Value on 30 June 2017 as inspected was: £ 255,000.00 Two Hundred and Fifty Five Thousand Pounds Only. 

NameUnavailable

You had a surveyor look at the property after you bought and refurbished it? Didn't you get a survey before you bought it?

All the surveyor would have done is to give you an opinion on the condition and valuation at the time of the survey. There's no way any surveyor would state whether or not a property will increase in value as that is entirely down to the market.

Lenders criteria changes over time - there's a whole load of flats that aren't mortgageable at present due to the cladding/EWS1 issue. Some lenders also have issues with higher rise council flats.

Did you speak to a mortgage broker?

Ultimately you could sell at auction, to a cash buyer, who will probably buy it to rent out.

[Deleted User]

I completely understand where you’re coming from. However it will be confirmation of what they deem to be the value at that point in time and the biggest part is that it’s not saying whether or not a mortgage lender would lend on it.

That part is a separate issue and also can change constantly.

Did the surveyor raise that it was a non standard build at all?