Mortgage refusal for existing planning app

MWT

Is there anyone that you would point me in direction of or a way of finding out who would lend? 

I spent nearly 3 hours ringing 3 different lenders who couldn’t put me through to anyone and couldn’t tell me an answer. All they suggest is that we make an application. 

You mentioned earlier that you had a broker, this really is something they should be doing for you, if they are not, then you need to find a better broker...

Given all of this...

"detached country house with 3.5acres. In the middle of the acreage there is some stables and workshop/outbuildings that the current owner has got planning permission for a 3bedroom bungalow on."

... you are not going to find a lender by phoning around and asking, as none of them are going to say 'yes', it will always be one that will be subject to survey and review as it is very borderline for a standard residential mortgage...

simon_or

Harrywebber said:

simon_or said:

user1977 said:

Out of interest, can anyone here explain the lenders' difficulty with this? Is it the risk of the borrower deciding to carry out the development without lender consent?

From Santander's point of view as a mainstream prime residential lender, the large plot size, existing outbuildings and planning permission taken together are probably sufficient to introduce the risk of this essentially being a quasi development loan. There may also be other details in the background (layout, etc.) which add to the above.

I know that the OP does not have any intention of developing the plot but Santander only needs it to be slightly outside the mainstream for it to be too risky for them when they have plenty of vanilla business to service.

Having said that, this doesn't at all sound like it would be unplaceable, just needs the broker to do the rounds.

Is there anyone that you would point me in direction of or a way of finding out who would lend? 

I spent nearly 3 hours ringing 3 different lenders who couldn’t put me through to anyone and couldn’t tell me an answer. All they suggest is that we make an application. 

Frontline bank staff are of no use because they simply don't know the nuances, making applications willy nilly is just sub optimal. This is a job for your broker. If they're any good, while waiting on Santander, they should be putting in the legwork and identifying a lender that are ok with the property/plot specifications.

I had a similar issue with a rental purchase a couple of years ago which got declined by the first lender due to proximity to commercial outlets (it was on a high street with a petrol station more than 100ft away!). Before putting in a new app with another lender, my broker was able to talk to the new prospective lender, then their valuer and get a go-ahead in principle.