Owning your own home

Funnily enough I never used to use a broker. Did it all myself for years. Then I applied for a mortgage with Tesco bank (when it existed). What a fucking ball ache that was. Took 6 months to get an offer and several complaints. Basically they didn't believe our outgoings and kept asking me how much I spent on haircuts and food. I seriously lost my shit with them in the end.

I also got 500 quid of compensation off then afterwards. Personally I'd never apply for a mortgage without using a broker now. It all just goes so much smoother when you use one and they know where to place the business dependant on the case, i.e above commercial/self employed/ whether it'll meet a new build definition and you need an increased deposit etc

Yeah I totally agree - going direct has been and still is a complete ball ache, if you are applying with a new lender. I've always found my existing - Halifax - to be really easy to deal with. We took a load of equity out of our main residence to pay off the mortgage on my other flat. They gave zero fucks, didn't even want to see the details of the charge taken off the LR record. Could have spent it on crack and hookers for all they cared. This was post 2008.

I did this a few years back to do a loft extension. So long as I had sufficient LTV and could afford the repayments the mortgage company didn't really care.

Haha yeh I think the Halifax are the most lax of lenders. They'd probably agree a mortgage on a tent. Expect to be reading about yourself in the golf bar thread tho about paying one of your mortgages off - you naughty boy!

In there already for this very reason.

Anyone want to buy a flat?

Just to ask the obvious, have you price matched equity release against a regular loan?

Obviously it totally depends on your individual circumstances, but a straight loan can often be cheaper so worth checking.

My first call will be L&C as they brokered the last 4 year one and I was happy with their service.

I'm not looking at a huge wedge of money, enough to buy an Ikea kitchen, a reasonable bathroom suite and payment for trade jobs I can't do myself (mostly plastering). It would be more than £5K but nowhere near £10K.

House is in Leeds, it's not a 'forever' house. A 1st time buyer or a downsizer would be it's primary market.

New guidance from the BBC website

*Several new activities which are permitted have been added to a list outlined by the PM, including moving house, fulfilling legal obligations and to escape injury, illness or the risk of harm.*

Not really sure whether that is just for those who've exchanged or generally

Not really sure whether that is just for those who've exchanged or generally

For those that have exchanged. And really it's still advised to not move if you can avoid it
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

We're moving into a vacant property and I suspect the one moving into ours isn't moving in straightaway so the guidance is still a bit grey.

This is from the FT today:

Banks are pressing for a full suspension of the housing market after the UK government told buyers and sellers to delay transactions because of the coronavirus outbreak.

In talks between lenders and ministers, banks have expressed concern about the impact of the pandemic on valuations. They are also concerned about granting credit when the economy is in freefall, according to senior bankers.

They have told ministers it has become impossible to survey properties, according to people briefed on the discussion. Bank call centres have also been inundated with anxious homeowners requesting mortgage holidays.

The government has urged buyers and sellers to delay moving. It said no visitors were allowed into properties while the ‘stay-at-home’ measures were in force, including estate agents, surveyors or potential buyers.

“You can speak to estate agents over the phone and they will be able to give you general advice about the local property market and handle certain matters remotely but they will not be able to start actively marketing your home in the usual manner,” the government said on Thursday night.

UK Finance, the industry body, has written to lenders saying it is seeking “urgent clarification” over the future of the market, “particularly as physical property valuations are no longer possible”.

A number of banks and specialist lenders have already withdrawn new mortgages to focus on existing customers and reduce pressure on call centres that are low on staff.

Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays, two of the UK’s biggest lenders, are temporarily pulling many of their mortgages. Lloyds has stopped offering mortgages or remortgages through brokers unless the customer has a deposit of at least 40 per cent of the value of the property.

Barclays told brokers it would no longer offer mortgages for customers who did not have a deposit of at least 40 per cent, but it will continue to offer remortgaging deals.

Bankers were keen to point out that the withdrawal of mortgage products did not signal they were running short of financing, as happened in 2008 when funding markets froze.

David Hollingworth, director at broker L & C Mortgages, said lenders were moving to cut the flow of new business as they dealt with tens of thousands of requests for mortgage payment delays.

“The purchase market will effectively go into cold storage,” he said. “You’re just not able to go out and buy a house even if the vendor wanted you to come around.”

The industry is also seeking to extend the length of time borrowers have to complete a transaction after receiving a mortgage offer, in order to stop transactions that are already in train from failing, according to two people briefed on the discussions.

Mortgage offers are usually valid for at least three months, but lenders are looking to provide a three-month extension.

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One banking executive said lenders wanted to provide flexibility but cautioned that “it does present legal challenges — what happens if a seller changes their mind in the next three months?”

Laura Conduit, a property lawyer at Farrers, said: “The strict legal position is if you have exchanged and have a completion date, you must complete on that date. It’s going to come down to how nice people are.”

She said that banks would have to decide whether their credit teams could rely on valuations using videos of properties rather than surveyors, adding: “We haven’t got a clue what the value of anything is.”

What other websites sell cheap white goods?

AO
Curry's
?

Cheers

Marks electricals

Thanks.

Our bathroom and kitchen grey waste connect into the same pipe before going into the drain - this pipework was there when we bought the house. Is this compliant with building regs/planning?

Appliances DIrect i think we got our fridge freezer from

As long as they are both grey water waste its fine.

Poop and piss has to go down a soil stack.

We’ve had a few things come up in our survey which weren’t mentioned in the buildings docs or sales info and also had a structural report undertaken which outlines some required work. At this point for these things I would like to take the cost of this work of the house price.

There were some other bits and pieces which came up which I would have expected of a property of this age or which would have been obvious from visiting - these I won’t be looking to do the above with.

Is that a reasonable position to take? I would like this to be an amicable process but equally feel these have a material affect on the price of the property. Looking for some hive mind thoughts. Thanks

Yes that is what a survey is for - anything that you can't reasonably expect to see yourself.
Probably a good time to negotiate down too.
Can be difficult if the owners thought their house was perfect and couldn't possible need all this work.

We got a CCTV survey done in the end and it turned out the drain was properly fucked.

There were three problems:

1. The poorly-fitted rat gate where our run met the main sewer was backing up

2. The T joint where the downstairs soil pipe met the pipe from upstairs hadn't been sealed properly and was leaking

3. The clay elbow underground where the downpipe turned to run into the sewer was smashed to pieces

Patio dug up, new rat gate installed, new UPVC pipes installed, wallet significantly lightened, confidence in plumbing restored.

1 Attachment

Glad you found the problems and got it sorted. Are you going to look to reclaim costs from the builder or put it down to experience?

I'm not sure any of it actually was the builder to be honest.

The biggest issue was the damaged elbow underground - he didn't touch that. The T may have been installed by him or a different guy who came to check our drains last year when we thought we had a smell and rat problem. He came to check on it a couple of days after I posted on here and was really nice about it - he's a decent guy.

I think we're just going to draw a line under everything now and wait for the next big expense.

As you've just had a kid I can assure you the next big expense is already here!

Who does your annual boiler service?

rat gate

That sounds charming. I have visions of a chap in uniform and a peaked cap holding a gate open for any passing rats saying 'Good evening sir, this way please'.

Soz, it's been a long day...

Sorry, it's much less exciting than that.

It's just like a tiny farm gate, and then the farmer cat comes along with his ratmouse and does some weird clicking sounds and counts them through "yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp."