Help to Buy Approved but now they say they made a mistake!?

TAS2

Hi all,

I had my Help to Buy 40% equity loan approved in October last year and my solicitor received the Authority to Proceed and we are on the final stages of exchanging.
For the next step HTB requested another proof of address, however since applying to HTB I moved out of my place to a friends to save up for the flat and therefore my address now doesn't match the application.

Upon speaking to Homes England they advised I change my address on the application which I did.
Later I received a notification saying that I have not passed the affordability check!??

I already had the approval so thought it was just a mistake 

I called up to check and they said that they're really sorry they must have made a mistake initially and approved my application when they shouldn't have.

I thought this was odd as my broker uses the same help to buy calculator and we worked out I can afford the flat at the time of application, which is why it was approved.
My broker has now looked at the HTB calculator (which is a excel sheet) which we submitted in October and compared it to the one they are looking at now, and it seems as though they have updated the calculator during this time and it is displaying different figures, and therefore saying I am above the 45% margin required to pass (by 0.50%)

Does anyone know where I stand in all of this?

How can updating my address mean my approval no longer stands.
I don't have anywhere to live after the 25th May and I've paid for a solicitor based on the fact I had the approval.

Thanks!

 

Pow11890

You will need need to get independent advice on this!!! And put a case in with HTB, as i agree it does sound unfair. They’ve mistaken on their end & approved. They should now have a review of this via complaints. 

TAS2

Thanks Pow11890 

Just an update, I spoke with Homes England and they have said that the calculator was updated this March and because I changed my address (on my already approved application), it meant the application was resubmitted and therefore with the new calculator it failed the affordability check. Even though I applied and was approved in October they will not honour this. 

Also, they failed to let me know that by updating my address, it would mean by application would be reviewed again.

I've paid for a solicitor and have wasted so much time, moved out of my flat, and it's so frustrating they can just do this 

Sistergold

Oh dear. So sorry about this. Time and again the advise is when you apply for a mortgage don’t change your circumstances as in some cases it can even come across as fraud and in many cases it means they withdraw offer. They are within their rights to withdraw and or review right up to the last moment. Many people want to change jobs etc and even if for a better pay it can mess things up as they take it you are now on probation etc. Lessons to learn I guess? 

GDB2222

If it's only 0.5%, why don't you ask for a reduction in the agreed sale price, so the figures work okay? Your vendors won't be happy, but you should at least put it to them.