Mortgage extension/reapplying

Hi there

What a nightmare of a 6 months this FTB experience has been for me and my partner. Our sellers solicitor have been so slow in responding to enquiries from our solicitor (if they answer at all) it has all dragged out to the 13th hour. I made sure all parties were aware our mortgage offer was due to expire on the 15th may and therefore we need to complete before then.

It nearly happened. We were all set to exchange and complete yesterday after rushing through the final paperwork. Then I noticed nowhere mentioned a £500 “allowance on completion” which had been agreed back in March because of some property damage. The funds had already been received from our lender in anticipation of completion on 14th may. I noticed this on the Friday beforehand and after spending all day trying to negotiate another way of getting the damage reimbursed or repaired we were left being told an allowance on completion was the only option and therefore our solicitor needs to send the funds back and request an extension from the lender.

Normally I would have let £500 slide (it was for criminal damage to the fence and summerhouse - likely because the length of time the property was stood vacant). However we had also noticed further damage to the property had been done to the French doors at the rear meaning the property was no longer secure. The sellers flatly refused to repair or make any further allowance for this damage, and we couldn’t move into a property that was not secure (we’re FTB and simply don’t have the funds to repair this ourselves and our building insurance only covers from the date of exchange). So this £500 is really important to us.

Our solicitor returned the funds on Friday and faxed a request for extension on Monday. I called our lenders today who confirmed even though the fax was marked urgent, it was still sat in an inbox and as nobody had verbally alerted them they hadn’t escalated it. I was told my solicitor needed to urgently send through a certificate of title plus a request for extension today. Our solicitor said she cannot send the certificate of title until the lender agrees on the allowance. Our brokers also got involved and said the allowance would increase our LTV to over 95% so we would need to add £900 more deposit (don’t know how they got that figure). Our solicitor said no, that’s not how it works, as it’s not a reduction to purchase price. Nationwide (our lender) said there’s nothing they can do about it, but they will grant a 14 day grace period provided they receive the certificate of title today.

I’ve been trying to call my solicitor all day (she doesn’t work Tuesdays so it’s being dealt with by her secretary) and I haven’t managed to get through to her for an update on whether this actually got sent or not. I’m so frustrated as it seems like nobody is talking to each other and it’s so exhausting being the middle man. I think it probably hasn’t been sent and that leaves us with just one option which is to reapply for the mortgages.

It’s a 95% LTV mortgage so what I’m asking you guys is has the market changed in the last 6 months in a way we should be aware of? Are we more or less likely to be approved? We have both been promoted since we last applied and earn £10k pa more. We haven’t taken out any new debts but have both recently got mobile phones which has dropped my “credit score” like a stone due to so many searches (it’s only been 3 in the last 12 months and one was my first mortgage application!). Just looking for a bit of reassurance as my broker sounded very negative about reapplying last time I spoke to them and said I just just forget about the £500 - although I see why they want me to just hurry and complete as they want their commission!

Help please!