Halifax mortgage offer expiry/extension

kingstreet

By the sound of it, a normal product was selected, rather than a newbuild product. The newbuild products have longer drawdown deadlines (DDL).

If your broker was aware of the Anticipated Legal Completion date (ALC) and recommended a product with a DDL before that, I'd be considering a complaint.

We had clients moaning like mad at us for their newbuild rates being slightly higher than normal despite us explaining the scenario above. They aren't moaning now!

Mortgage_99

kingstreet said:

By the sound of it, a normal product was selected, rather than a newbuild product. The newbuild products have longer drawdown deadlines (DDL).

If your broker was aware of the Anticipated Legal Completion date (ALC) and recommended a product with a DDL before that, I'd be considering a complaint.

We had clients moaning like mad at us for their newbuild rates being slightly higher than normal despite us explaining the scenario above. They aren't moaning now!

Wow! That’s so frustrating. It all makes sense now. We were so confused as to why our mortgage offer ran out so quickly considering it’s a new build but now it all adds up.

This is the brokers response when I emailed him….

“Halifax may extend your offer but it is at their discretion.

 

Yes this is a new build help to buy mortgage product, the offers are not longer with new builds the maximum offers are 6 months on second hand properties.

 

Sometimes Halifax will automatically renew the offer but I will ask for an extension which can only be done 2 weeks prior to expiry.

 

Has you developer amended the completion date?”

I am very confused on what to do now. I have Halifax telling me that a new product must be selected and there’s no extensions available on the same product. The broker telling me something different. I’m worried thinking if it’s possible/better to secure a new product now rather than waiting towards expiry. What if mortgage rates increase again from now till 30/06. The broker isn’t really being clear. 

simon_or

Mortgage_99 said:

kingstreet said:

By the sound of it, a normal product was selected, rather than a newbuild product. The newbuild products have longer drawdown deadlines (DDL).

If your broker was aware of the Anticipated Legal Completion date (ALC) and recommended a product with a DDL before that, I'd be considering a complaint.

We had clients moaning like mad at us for their newbuild rates being slightly higher than normal despite us explaining the scenario above. They aren't moaning now!

Wow! That’s so frustrating. It all makes sense now. We were so confused as to why our mortgage offer ran out so quickly considering it’s a new build but now it all adds up.

This is the brokers response when I emailed him….

“Halifax may extend your offer but it is at their discretion.

 

Yes this is a new build help to buy mortgage product, the offers are not longer with new builds the maximum offers are 6 months on second hand properties.

 

Sometimes Halifax will automatically renew the offer but I will ask for an extension which can only be done 2 weeks prior to expiry.

 

Has you developer amended the completion date?”

I am very confused on what to do now. I have Halifax telling me that a new product must be selected and there’s no extensions available on the same product. The broker telling me something different. I’m worried thinking if it’s possible/better to secure a new product now rather than waiting towards expiry. What if mortgage rates increase again from now till 30/06. The broker isn’t really being clear. 

I don't think your broker is being clear. Your mortgage offer should have a product code on it, perhaps KS or Kingstreet can tell whether it's it's a new build one or a normal one.

Mortgage_99

Not sure if this will help as it has now expired. But the code for the product we applied for is FBS597.

Mortgage_99

K_S said:

@mortgage_99 With Halifax, the product usually has a 'complete-by' date which in this case appears to be 30/06.

Beyond that normally there's no option but to pick a current product. The process itself is quite straightforward and may involve a soft-footprint credit check.

Once you confirm that the above is indeed the case, if you think that rates may rise further in the time to June, you could consider switching products early and locking in the currently available product/rate.

Hi, is it easy to switch to a new product now even though this one expires on 30/06? And is it as simple as the broker just calling them and asking for an extension this early? Thanks

K_S

@mortgage_99 I just checked with Halifax when I was speaking with them about another query and they said that FBS597 was a normal FTB product with a complete-by date of 30/06/2022.

To answer your above question, it's a very straightforward process for the broker to switch to a current product.

Please think it through properly before asking the broker to make a change as once you switch away, you'll lose the lower rate for sure, even if your completion moved back to before June 30.

simon_or

OP, definitely looks like the broker picked the less optimal product though as Kingstreet suggest it would have been cheaper than a new build one.

If you told him that completion was expected prior to end of June, you probably don't have a solid complaint as he's given you an offer that lasts that long.

kingstreet

The other thing here is could a 'Green' product have been used? If there is a predicted energy assessment of A or B as you'd expect on a newbuild, a broker can choose a green product. Not much difference, TBH. Same rate but £250 cashback on completion.

Also available on HTB/SO affordable housing applications.

kingstreet

Going back to the newbuild/non-newbuild comparison I've just looked at an application from 5 May.

The non-newbuild option was five year fixed at 2.7% with a DDL of 30/09/2022.

The newbuild option was five year fixed at 2.9% with a DDL of 31/03/2023.

In this instance, the ALC was November/December 2022. So it was take the 0.2% hit now; or chance what the rate might be later/in September.

FWIW other lenders who offered six + six, or a nine month offer wouldn't lend the amount required.

K_S

kingstreet said:

The other thing here is could a 'Green' product have been used? If there is a predicted energy assessment of A or B as you'd expect on a newbuild, a broker can choose a green product. Not much difference, TBH. Same rate but £250 cashback on completion.

Also available on HTB/SO affordable housing applications.

@kingstreet Don't know if it was the case back in Feb, but current green product codes appear to start with a G.