First mortgage lender refused to lend due to proximity to commercial premises - should we pull out?

adamjamescuz

Hi,

My partner and I are in the process of buying a ground floor 1 bed flat in a popular area of south London (West Dulwich) where the property market is usually pretty healthy. Our first mortgage application (with Halifax) has resulted in them refusing to lend due to the property being in close proximity to a cafe and a corner shop. The actual property is actually not that close (situated further back in the overall building), but the front door to the building which the flat is situated in is between the two commercial premises. 

We are facing the decision now of whether to try again with a different lender, or if we should just pull out (after all, if Halifax aren't prepared to put money in, then maybe we shouldn't either..). The main reasons for us to try again are: Natwest were happy to lend on the two other properties in the building, so it seems at least another high street lender deems it a viable security on the loan and the re-sale ability should still be fairly high given it's a popular area (the property also had a lot of interest when it was first put on the market). We are thinking a sensible strategy might be to try one other high street / established lender, if they come back with the same result then we will pull out. I appreciated they may use the same TP surveyor so perhaps it just comes down to individual lenders criteria.

Any advice on this from anyone who has had this experience or general advice would be very much appreciated to help us make the right decision.

Thanks
Adam

user1977

Best if you ask a broker rather than try shopping around lenders yourself (if that's what you're proposing to do) - but it's pretty common for lenders to have difficulties with flats in the same building as commercial premises.

adamjamescuz

Hi - Thanks for your response, yes we are using a broker (they are suggesting to try another lender) - its adjacent to commercial premises, i.e. not in the same building

housebuyer143

Definitely try again before throwing in the towel. Make sure you broker actually speaks to an underwriter before submitting it though to ensure they are confident it will be okay. 

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

It depends on whether Nat West lent recently as well - lenders are being more picky at the moment. 

housebuyer1992

Hello - we're trying to buy in east London and facing a similar issue (the flat we're trying to buy is two doors down from a lettings agent). Did you succeed with a different provider?