Long stop date after our mortgage expires

Heaf23

We reserved a new build that is due to be built in February-March and whilst getting prepared to exchange we have been told that the property has a 6 month long stop date from the end of March. Having never bought new build before we weren't aware of the long stop concept on reservation and it's a new experience buying a house so far off from there being a house ready!

We have a mortgage offer that expires in June 2024 and thought that would be more than sufficient to cover any delays, but now seeing that contract we're very concerned about the risk of having a long stop date in September. It may be absolutely fine and the house delivers in Feb-Mar, but it may be delayed and we may not be able to secure a comparable deal (currently we have 4.99%) or any deal at all if we get priced out by rates!

We've tried negotiating the developer to match the mortgage expiry date but were told to get lost as they don't negotiate stop dates and we were "aware of the date in the reservation paperwork". Which I don't think is fair, we were aware of the Feb-March date, the 6 month long stop was never mentioned at that point, we signed up to buy a house in Feb-March not anytime up until September 2024!

At the moment we've asked mortgage advisor to see if we could essentially apply for another mortgage that might be a slightly higher rate but has a longer expiry on the offer, so that we at least know we have a mortgage and whilst more it will be known and within our price limit. And then we just hold onto the lower rate offer and the higher but longer offer until we know when the house is ready. And we potentially reapply early next year if rates come down. Think there are some specialist mortgages that go that long but don't know if reapplying 2 months after our original application will look poor on our credit score, or if we're even allowed to have two mortgage offers open at the same time!

Waiting on mortgage advisor to come back to me is driving me a bit nuts, is the above mad? Are there other ways people have successfully negotiated this kind of long stop situation?

kingstreet

Which lender, please?

Heaf23

We have our 4.99% mortgage from Barclays, it is valid from 28 June to 28 June 2024. 

kingstreet

Barclays offers six plus six on newbuilds with a re-score. Is that what you meant?

"Any offer that does not complete within this period must be re-submitted as a new application with the exception of ‘New Build Purchase’ applications which can be assessed against current lending standards with a refreshed credit search and re-offered for a further period of 6 months with the existing product or a product from the current range."