Maximum length of time to extend a mortgage offer?

annetheman

Hi all,

I was really lucky to receive a mortgage offer for a freehold house owner-occupied within 3 working days from application mid January - it expires on the 14th July.

I have recently had to pull out of the purchase it was for, and it is being transferred to a similar house (valuation was Monday so hopefully will be all done within the next few days).

My broker has advised this change of address will not change the expiry date. I will be starting the conveyancing for the new house in the next week or so, all being well with the mortgage (PLEASE GOD), so I am going to assume a 4-6 month timeframe from mid-March to complete. 

Given I also have a leasehold shared ownership flat to sell to a FTB (in progress), my mortgage offer will almost definitely be past current expiry date by the time I am ready to complete, assuming that is around July to September at worst estimate!

I wondered what is the most amount of times a lender will typically extend an offer by? 

I have conflicting experience with this - a friend is currently on her 4th one-month extension as she is exchange ready but the long chain is a bit of a mess. All she has had to do is send latest payslip and bank balance, only 1 soft check to date.

Conversely, I had my offer pulled at 8 months a few years ago due to "inactivity".

Not sure if Accord (Yorkshire Building Society) would allow up to 2-3 months or so... Any experience welcome and of course I will ask my broker, too. Thanks a lot!

ACG

Our offers are valid for 6 months. For new build properties we can potentially offer a 6 month offer extension. For second hand properties we can consider an extension of 10 days. You will need to speak to your underwriting team to request the extension as further documentation may be required.

This is off the accord website. YBS could be different as they do not do everything exactly the same. 

It looks like a 10 day extension. 

In all honesty though, there is no reason why you can not be done by the 14th July. Thats nearly 4 months away! Appreciate you need to find a buyer, but if it is priced sensibly, the market is pretty active so should sell. 

annetheman

ACG said:

Our offers are valid for 6 months. For new build properties we can potentially offer a 6 month offer extension. For second hand properties we can consider an extension of 10 days. You will need to speak to your underwriting team to request the extension as further documentation may be required.

This is off the accord website. YBS could be different as they do not do everything exactly the same. 

It looks like a 10 day extension. 

In all honesty though, there is no reason why you can not be done by the 14th July. Thats nearly 4 months away! Appreciate you need to find a buyer, but if it is priced sensibly, the market is pretty active so should sell. 

Thank you, that's helpful - much shorter than I thought!

I already have a buyer, accepted their offer (2nd asking price offer) last week, the EA has checked their documentation to ensure they meet all the Shared Ownership criteria and we are now heading into the second week waiting for the Housing Association to approve them... A sign of things to come in terms of speed at which anything requiring the HA's input will take, I think. So I'm erring on the side of extreme caution and guessing 6 months at least to sell!

Unfortunately my broker called this morning to confirm the valuation means Accord won't lend due to single-skin extension housing the kitchen, so we're off to try another lender. Don't need to have 14th July in mind, after all... Maybe a blessing in disguise, **if** my broker can find a single-skin-friendly lender... Fingers crossed as I really want this house (will knock the dodgy kitchen extension down!)!