Mortgage refusal

UpKnitCreek

My daughter has just been turned down for a mortgage with HSBC because the property does not have a lift - she is buying a basement flat (so would never use a lift, even if there was one) and the whole property only has a ground, first and second floor as well as the basement. I could understand it if it was a high-rise block, but it seems absurd. She has a 16.5% deposit, but apparently if she could go up to 20%, the problem with the lift would magically disppear! Is this a common occurrence and is she likely to find the same problem with other lenders?

MattMattMattUK

UpKnitCreek said:

My daughter has just been turned down for a mortgage with HSBC because the property does not have a lift - she is buying a basement flat (so would never use a lift, even if there was one) and the whole property only has a ground, first and second floor as well as the basement. I could understand it if it was a high-rise block, but it seems absurd. She has a 16.5% deposit, but apparently if she could go up to 20%, the problem with the lift would magically disppear! Is this a common occurrence and is she likely to find the same problem with other lenders?

I suspect it relates to the valuation of the property, which is where the lift issue potentially arises. Alternatively she could use a broker to find a different lender. 

housebuyer143

Different lenders have different criteria, some require.a lift if property is 4 stories+ which this one is if you include the basement.
I recommend going to a broker so they can find someone who lends on it 

kingstreet

The 80% thing is puzzling me. The only mention of 80% is in the section related to newbuild and ex-council flats but that doesn't appear lift-dependent.

UpKnitCreek

kingstreet said:

The 80% thing is puzzling me. The only mention of 80% is in the section related to newbuild and ex-council flats but that doesn't appear lift-dependent.

The flat she is trying to buy is neither - it’s a conversion in a Victorian/Edwardian property and was converted many years ago - and she ticks pretty much all the right boxes for a successful mortgage application. She is with a broker, and everyone involved (estate agent, broker, solicitor) is very bemused by this somewhat bonkers decision

user1977

Sounds odd. Four stories (without a lift) is pretty normal in urban Scotland, for example, but I’ve never heard of it being a mortgage problem. If anything a lift seems an extra burden with chunky maintenance/insurance costs.

ACG

You could appeal, on the basis that it is within criteria by the sounds of it. 
It would get referred back to the same surveyor so you are banking on them changing their mind or accepting they got it wrong (I have never had an appeal overturned and I have put a lot of work into some of them). 

Alternatively it is probably easier/quicker to just find a different lender and hope the same surveyor does not go out.