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Original poster

Lender has refused mortgage as a result of survey - what options do we have?

31 replies

BelfastSmile · 25/08/2020 11:21

DH and I are trying to buy a house. Applied for a mortgage, all went fine until the survey came back. Basically it says that the house needs a new roof, and without that, the bank are not prepared to lend at all. There are no other major issues on the survey results.

I asked about whether a reduced asking price would allow us to buy it, and about getting a retention, but they've said no. So, essentially, they are saying there's no way they'll give us a mortgage unless the vendor replaces the roof first.

We're trying to get in touch with the vendor (via the estate agent), but if he refuses to fix the roof (eg if he can't afford it, doesn't want to do it etc), do we have any other options? I'd like to be armed with solutions for when we do start the conversation!

Would another mortgage company be likely to say the same thing? This was Barclays, but they use the same surveyors as the other big banks as far as I know.

OP posts:
lastqueenofscotland · 25/08/2020 12:29

Virtually all mortgage surveys are done by 2/3 companies. It’s unlikely that they’ll say something different. If the vendor isn’t willing to do the works it may be best to cut your losses and move on

wrensandrobins · 25/08/2020 12:40

This was me two years ago. Exactly the same situation. Literally nothing you can do, you need to start looking for a new house, it will be picked up by another surveyor and even if it wasn't do you really want to be saddled with £10000+ for a new roof? We tried every angle and in the end it wasn't worth the stress, money etc

GreyGardens88 · 25/08/2020 12:43

You could try a different lender, although they may use the same surveyors they may have different criteria in regards to the standard of property they will accept/ I would speak to a broker.

Viviennemary · 25/08/2020 12:50

Are you putting down 10% deposit or more. It must be to do with your deposit/mortgage ratio. It's the only reason I can think of. But happy to be proved wrong.

Original poster
BelfastSmile · 25/08/2020 12:54

@Viviennemary

Are you putting down 10% deposit or more. It must be to do with your deposit/mortgage ratio. It's the only reason I can think of. But happy to be proved wrong.
15% deposit. But they've said they won't lend on that property until the roof is fixed, so I don't think changing the deposit amount would help.
OP posts:
Original poster
BelfastSmile · 25/08/2020 12:55

@GreyGardens88

You could try a different lender, although they may use the same surveyors they may have different criteria in regards to the standard of property they will accept/ I would speak to a broker.
Ok, that's worth knowing, thanks.
OP posts:
Original poster
BelfastSmile · 25/08/2020 12:58

@lastqueenofscotland @wrensandrobins thanks. Yeah, we wouldn't mind fixing the roof if the vendor knocked the equivalent price off the asking price (as long as we had a definite quote), but the broker have said no to that.

Hopefully the vendor will be prepared to get it fixed, but if not, we'll probably walk away (though DH is very set on it and I reckon he'd be keen to explore every avenue; I'm more like, if it's going to be a load of hassle, let's not bother).

OP posts:
gumball37 · 25/08/2020 14:13

I had this with my last house I sold. The buyers agreed to up their price to cover what I had to out into the new roof. Everyone walked away happy😁

gumball37 · 25/08/2020 14:13

*put into

gumball37 · 25/08/2020 14:17

I'll add... I'm in the US... So not sure if this is something you can work out where you are.

Hopefulbride18 · 25/08/2020 14:20

We had something similar happen trying to buy our first home - a major structural issue came up on the survey and mortgage refused to lend. Nothing we could do as the vendor couldn’t afford to fix to afford the property they were buying. Eventually they sold to a cash buyer, which I know because someone who worked for the estate agent bought it... that would be the only other option for him.

@gumball37 yes but then OP would need to pay much more for the property than they’ve already agreed?!

NoSquirrels · 25/08/2020 14:24

There's nothing you can do.

If the vendor refuses to fix it, and you cannot buy it without a mortgage, which you cannot get it the roof remains unfixed, then you need to walk away. You've already tried both the options you had (ask for retention/reduced asking price & agreement to fix).

The vendor would do best to try to fix it, though, or they'll never sell. So I would be pushing the estate agent to make the case REALLY STRONGLY that letting a sale to you - motivated, keen, etc - fall through would be a bad idea.

But if the vendor cannot raise the funds required, there's nothing you can do.

gumball37 · 25/08/2020 14:25

@Hopefulbride18

We had something similar happen trying to buy our first home - a major structural issue came up on the survey and mortgage refused to lend. Nothing we could do as the vendor couldn’t afford to fix to afford the property they were buying. Eventually they sold to a cash buyer, which I know because someone who worked for the estate agent bought it... that would be the only other option for him.

@gumball37 yes but then OP would need to pay much more for the property than they’ve already agreed?!

But the roof would be taken care of... A cost they would have to pay anyway. So it'd be a wash so to speak.
Nomorescreentime · 25/08/2020 14:30

I’ve just applied for a mortgage with Santander and they haven’t even come out and looked at the house I’m buying, they did a computer based valuation. Also different lenders will have different lending rules. I would talk to a good broker and see if they have any ideas for you. Although bear in mind that even if you get a mortgage, you will then need to fix the roof, so a price reduction may be an idea...

Blobby10 · 25/08/2020 14:38

I had this with a house I had set my heart on - paid for a full survey which found evidence of structural movement. Lender said no. Broker said he had never known this particular lender to just say no outright without asking for further surveys etc so it must be bad. I walked away from that one albeit in floods of tears. House is still unsold and I got a much much nicer house in which I am incredibly happy Grin

Whymustyoubringinthebirds · 25/08/2020 14:38

Desktop valuations are down to chance, no guarantee that you would get a desktop if you changed lender

Hopefulbride18 · 25/08/2020 14:44

@gumball37 yes it would but because it’s sort of a ‘surprise’ cost - the price it was marketed for does not reflect the buyer having to pay for a new roof immediately!

Unless the seller declared before you expect it to be structurally sound before you move in - as does the mortgage provider!

Wearyheavyladen · 25/08/2020 14:47

Isn’t a survey and a valuation different?

Gumball, I cannot imagine why a buyer would want to pay the cost of the roof when in fact the asking price should have reflected the damaged roof. A reduction in price I can understand but an increase? Your buyer must have been incredibly desperate.

PinkDaff · 25/08/2020 15:05

Hi OP I'm currently in a similar position and it's horrendous ! Could you please tell me if you had the full structural survey of just the home buyers survey that came back with these results?

threesecrets · 25/08/2020 15:20

So what happens if someone if buying a complete renovation project- can you not get a mortgage ? Didn't realise it was so complex

gumball37 · 25/08/2020 16:28

@Wearyheavyladen

Isn’t a survey and a valuation different?

Gumball, I cannot imagine why a buyer would want to pay the cost of the roof when in fact the asking price should have reflected the damaged roof. A reduction in price I can understand but an increase? Your buyer must have been incredibly desperate.

Nope. They new it needed done but didn't think the lender would hold it up. They didn't have the cash to do it... So they upped their price, I did it and the cost was put into their mortgage.

I guess I don't see the difference between this and buying at the current price then finding out next year it needs a new roof... You can't go back to the sellers and ask them to eat the costs.🤷

gumball37 · 25/08/2020 16:30

Hey... Disagree as much as you want... I'm just explaining what we did and that it worked out for everyone involved. I sold my house and they got the house they wanted.

mintbiscuit · 25/08/2020 16:34

OP out of interest is the roof damaged or just old? (Sorry if that sounds like a silly question!)

Wearyheavyladen · 25/08/2020 20:33

Gumball I don’t dispute your transaction, I just think it is irregular and would be what I’d expect as a norm.

Original poster
BelfastSmile · 25/08/2020 21:03

@gumball37

I had this with my last house I sold. The buyers agreed to up their price to cover what I had to out into the new roof. Everyone walked away happy😁
I'm not sure how this would work, but in our case it's not an option anyway - the bank won't lend us any amount of money to buy this house, so increasing the amount won't help.
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