Mortgage declined due to construction type – what are my chances elsewhere?

bluehorses

Hi all, this is my first time posting so hope I'm in the right place! I've had an offer accepted on a top-floor flat in a converted three-storey Victorian house. I applied for a mortgage with Nationwide (via L&C) and passed credit checks etc, but the mortgage was declined after valuation – the (unexpected) feedback provided was:

Construction: Converted building. The subject's accommodation in roof of original building. Walls therefore rafter and purlin with a clay tiled exterior with some sections of solid brick on dormer window sections. Construction not acceptable security for mortgage advance.

My question is – does anyone have experience of this kind of thing, and if so, what are my chances of getting a mortgage from another lender? On the advice of my advisor at L&C I'm now applying with HSBC, but the advisor has said if they also turn it down, it's probably better to leave this property and start over. Should I expect the worst and get ready to start searching again? Or is this likely a Nationwide-specific issue? Any thoughts/advice gratefully received!

K_S

@bluehorses Nationwide is one of the few lenders that allows broker to request a pre-valuation check prior to submitting a full application or incurring a hard check. https://www.nationwide-intermediary.co.uk/-/media/NFI/documents/db62-pre-valuation-property-form.pdf  Hopefully your broker did do this after looking at the Rightmove ad for the property (multi-storey flat conversions can often fall foul of lender criteria) and get a positive response before recommending them for a full app.

Next steps - taking the valuer's comments at face value, this sounds like something that would be problematic with most mainstream lenders. If you do intend to put in a fresh application, do request your broker to run the details past the lender (and ideally speak to the lender's surveyor panel, not always possible) before submitting a new application and incurring another hard-check.

bluehorses said:

Hi all, this is my first time posting so hope I'm in the right place! I've had an offer accepted on a top-floor flat in a converted three-storey Victorian house. I applied for a mortgage with Nationwide (via L&C) and passed credit checks etc, but the mortgage was declined after valuation – the (unexpected) feedback provided was:

Construction: Converted building. The subject's accommodation in roof of original building. Walls therefore rafter and purlin with a clay tiled exterior with some sections of solid brick on dormer window sections. Construction not acceptable security for mortgage advance.

My question is – does anyone have experience of this kind of thing, and if so, what are my chances of getting a mortgage from another lender? On the advice of my advisor at L&C I'm now applying with HSBC, but the advisor has said if they also turn it down, it's probably better to leave this property and start over. Should I expect the worst and get ready to start searching again? Or is this likely a Nationwide-specific issue? Any thoughts/advice gratefully received!

amnblog

Look at this from a different direction.

If your Valuer/Lender does not consider this property suitable for Lending, yet you find a Valuer/Lender that does, you may buy a property that you will struggle to later resell. 

al3xp

This very much sounds similar to the construction of my flat. It's a top floor flat in a converted old coach house. I have about 1-2 feet of wall before the old roof starts and the walls slop in. They are rafters/purlin with clay tiles on the outside. I had no problem getting a mortgage on it from Tesco Bank 7 years ago. Do you have any amount of "normal" straight wall? I know my flat was also mortgaged by the previous owners, as was another top floor flat in the block with different lenders. I don't know if maybe I have just enough wall for it not to be an issue, or if Nationwide are particularly fussy?

al3xp

Are the roof beams exposed? I wonder if that's an issue, mine is all plasterboarded, you can't see the roof beams, only the slope because of it.