Halifax Mortgage: Approved subject to valuation, then asked us to increase deposit.

suzierthanyou

Went through a broker, was advised by our broker that Halifax would be best for my situation.

I have a10% deposit, excellent salary/credit rating and no defaults or CCJs. I'm full-time employed as well as running a self-employed business which tops up my income. 

• 3rd February: Mortgage approved subject to valuation
• 9 February: Valuation completed, property undervalued by £500
• 9 February: Broker resubmitted the mortgage application with £500 less in the asking price
• 11 February: Decision came back that they'll still lend, but I now need to have a 15% deposit (which is an extra £22,825). 
• 11 February: Sent my full credit report to broker for him to use to appeal. 

Broker was very surprised that this happened in the time between initial application and valuation. I can't scrape together £22,825 in the next week, no matter how much I wish I could. 

Is this unusual? Could it be something to do with the recent inflation news/something else?

Nothing has changed in my personal circumstances, the only thing I can think of is that because I bank with Halifax, could they see how much I've been saving over the last few weeks and that could cause concern as I've saved a lot in a short amount of time? I haven't exceeded any limits, missed payments or opened new accounts. 

The only outgoings I have are rent and usual bills. No dependants, no car leasing, and an immaculate record of debt repayment, clearing ALL my debt to zero before applying. 

I think I'll lose the house we had offered on because they are hounding me for solicitor's details despite the valuation only happening 1.5 working days ago and reminding me how keen the sellers are to wrap this up because they're buying a new-build.

Now this mortgage decision has thrown a spanner in the works — what can I do? Will I need to go with a different lender?

Thrugelmir

When did your receive formal mortgage offers? There's no such stage as "Mortgage approved subject to valuation".  Underwriters only issue formal mortgage offers once all the information is to hand. 

suzierthanyou

@Thrugelmir I see, perhaps I have phrased that incorrectly. Do I mean Halifax have made an offer subject to valuation? Or would that all still be considered an AIP? 

I had several hard credit checks on 3rd February when we made the full application (four separate ones from Halifax mortgages appear on my credit report) and that was before they'd done the valuation. 

It was only when we had to resubmit the application after the valuation that the offer changed.

As this is all going through my broker I didn't see the communication from Halifax directly, he just called and said there's now a slight problem that we need to get past. 

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately lenders can tweak the credit scoring at any time.  Its happened to me a few times with doing an amendment even post full offer and then it declines.  Most of the time it can be overturned but since Halifax hadn't actually issued an offer then ots difficult to say. 
Hopefully it all works out for you.  The one thing working in your favour is that Halifax are quite quick to turn things round at the moment so you shouldn't have to wait long for the answer 

suzierthanyou

Got an agreement in principle with Barclays instead. Here’s hoping 🤞 

amnblog

The change in the figures generated a new score and you did not receive the same result as previously. Bit surprised you are applying elsewhere whilst still waiting for Halifax to resolve this.

suzierthanyou

amnblog said:

The change in the figures generated a new score and you did not receive the same result as previously. Bit surprised you are applying elsewhere whilst still waiting for Halifax to resolve this.

They told our broker the only thing we can do is make a complaint which will take five weeks to get a response on. We need to move faster than that because our seller won’t wait for us. 

Sistergold

You did well to try a different lender as they treat expenses and income differently sometimes. With Santander I had a shortfall of £92000 but I got the full amount with WestBrom. Don’t worry you will probably get the amount you need with someone else. 🤞