15% deposit for maisonette

Rumana03

Mortgage broker has said they have appealed saying that the property should be classed as a terrace house as it has it's own private garden. They have also mentioned in the appeal that there is no service charge or ground rent so therefore there is less risk for the bank. We should know outcome in a few days.

Rumana03

She also said she will check again to see if any other banks can offer the same mortgage (but that will probably mean a higher interest rate)

housebuyer143

Rumana03 said:

Mortgage broker has said they have appealed saying that the property should be classed as a terrace house as it has it's own private garden. They have also mentioned in the appeal that there is no service charge or ground rent so therefore there is less risk for the bank. We should know outcome in a few days.

Will be interesting to see if you get it. 🤞🤞 For you. 

K_S

Rumana03 said:

Mortgage broker has said they have appealed saying that the property should be classed as a terrace house as it has it's own private garden. They have also mentioned in the appeal that there is no service charge or ground rent so therefore there is less risk for the bank. We should know outcome in a few days.

@rumana03 Interesting, please do update the thread when you hear back on the appeal. I would be very surprised if it worked but I wish you the best and hope it does.

ComicGeek

Terminology is interesting, as the house type would be a mid terrace house on the EPC. 

It would only be defined as a flat or maisonette if the dwelling doesn't extend to all floors of the building. So for the EPC it would still be classified as a terraced house regardless of the overhang at first floor above the driveway access.

Definitely not a maisonette under any definition I've used in the building industry.

Rumana03

ComicGeek said:

Terminology is interesting, as the house type would be a mid terrace house on the EPC. 

It would only be defined as a flat or maisonette if the dwelling doesn't extend to all floors of the building. So for the EPC it would still be classified as a terraced house regardless of the overhang at first floor above the driveway access.

Definitely not a maisonette under any definition I've used in the building industry.

Just checked the EPC report because of what you wrote and it lists the property as "upper maisonette"...this is another thing concerning me..in the leasehold paperwork it refers to "upper maisonette" quite often which makes it seem like the top part and bottom part are separate

ComicGeek

Rumana03 said:

ComicGeek said:

Terminology is interesting, as the house type would be a mid terrace house on the EPC. 

It would only be defined as a flat or maisonette if the dwelling doesn't extend to all floors of the building. So for the EPC it would still be classified as a terraced house regardless of the overhang at first floor above the driveway access.

Definitely not a maisonette under any definition I've used in the building industry.

Just checked the EPC report because of what you wrote and it lists the property as "upper maisonette"...this is another thing concerning me..in the leasehold paperwork it refers to "upper maisonette" quite often which makes it seem like the top part and bottom part are separate

Yeah, that's been assessed incorrectly for the EPC.

The EPC conventions state that 'a dwelling that does not extend to all storeys of the building is a flat or maisonette'. That doesn't apply to that property as it does extend to all (both) storeys of the building. The fact that there is an overhang at first floor level, that there is driveway access below doesn't change this.

As the assessor incorrectly ticked maisonette, they then have to select 'ground floor maisonette' (with no heat loss roof as there is another dwelling above), or 'top floor maisonette' (with no heat loss floor as there is another dwelling below). Neither applies to that property.

The definition of maisonette in the leasehold paperwork may be due to the first floor overhang over the access way. I don't think this is related to the incorrect definition in the EPC, just coincidental. 

simon_or

ComicGeek said:

Terminology is interesting, as the house type would be a mid terrace house on the EPC. 

It would only be defined as a flat or maisonette if the dwelling doesn't extend to all floors of the building. So for the EPC it would still be classified as a terraced house regardless of the overhang at first floor above the driveway access.

Definitely not a maisonette under any definition I've used in the building industry.

This is very interesting, I never knew that you couldn't rely on the EPC description. This one bed coach house flat is described as a 'semi-detached house' on the EPC, don't see any bank agreeing with that!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119589467#/?channel=RES_BUY

Rumana03

Sadly we found out yesterday from our mortgage broker that the bank definitely class the property as a maisonette so we'll have to pay 15% deposit.

TheJP

Rumana03 said:

K_S said:

Rumana03 said:

K_S said:

@Rumana03 Coach-house flat, flying free-hold, etc are the kind of things that came to mind when I saw the picture. Definitely something that I would expect the broker to dig into before placing the case, that's assuming they looked the property up on RM/Zoopla.

Nationwide even offer a pre-valuation enquiry service to brokers for precisely these kind of situations https://www.nationwide-intermediary.co.uk/-/media/NFI/documents/db62-pre-valuation-property-form.pdf

If the buyers are FTBs then the second property issue doesn't come into the picture.

Will the broker be able to use the property advert to help with the appeal? As it was clearly listed as a house.

@rumana03 I wouldn't expect that to be a valid reason. In any case, as it is a flat/maisonette in fact, that's what Nationwide will treat it as.

To be honest I'm not entirely sure what the appeal is based on and whether he's appealing the valuation or something else. Nationwide's valuation appeal criteria is given here https://www.nationwide-intermediary.co.uk/lending-criteria/property-and-constructions#valAppeal

Can we ask the seller for a reduction on the price agreed? They clearly must have known that the property advert was incorrect as I have seen many other properties listed clearly as maisonette whereas this one repeatedly used the word "house".

What was the banks valuation of the property?