Our house is unmortgageable. I want to cry!

[Holls81]

Just wondering if anyone else has had this, especially recently.

In the past we’ve owned 2 properties built in the late 1800 and never had a problem getting a mortgage for either.

our current home was built in 1890.

we had no problem getting a mortgage on this either- in fact we just fixed again with the mortgage lender we’ve had for the last 5 years.
we recently applied for £10k on our mortgage to do some home improvements (re rendering etc which should add value) but it was declined. Not on the grounds that we couldn’t afford it, but on the grounds that the surveyor deemed our property as unmortgageable due to the original part of the house being single skin.

I had no idea that this would be an issue I spoke to the lender and they said it’s a blanket rule across all properties which are single skin (ie. Pre cavity wall - 1930’s builds.)

im now worried that we’ll never be able to sell our house as no one will ever be able
to get a mortgage on it, plus we’re paying a lot of money each month for a house that may never be worth anything now.

I feel sick!

This really.

Or at least consider how that 20k can be optimally spent to achieve the highest EPC possible rather than some cosmetic work.

You need a high risk lender you will find that these properties and those with spray seal insulation solutions are deemed unmortgagable by inexperienced surveyors aka jobsworths

This is wrong. My previous house was built in 1870 and had cavity walls.

Thanks for this. I came to comment the same. Everyone saying Victorian or pre 1930s houses would be single skin. They won’t. They’d be solid brick. I’m a mortgage Valuer and would also report unmortgagable for single skin construction but as you say this is only common for small additions made to solid brick built properties.

I just remortgaged our 1890 property with HSBC. You just need to shop around

lots of old properties are EPC exempt though.

I think it’s only if they are listed. Mine is old, as in at least 300 years old, but it isn’t listed. So, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t qualify for an EPC get out of jail free card.

Literally sitting in my single skinned mortgaged property now! Where we live 90% of the houses are old and single skin and it isn’t an issue.

@Lorski thisnis interesting.
so what’s the difference between solid brick and single skin please?
I’m so confused as to up until now we’ve never had an issue!
i’ve measured the thickness of the house’s original walls and from what I can see they are around 10+ inches thick. (Not far off the thickness of the extension wall which was built in 1990.
However, as I was going around, it did occur to me that in my sons bedroom (upstairs) he has a slightly thinner window sill which makes me wonder if his walls are thinner. They also appear to be panelled on the inside I think.
would it be likely to have thicker walls on the ground floor of the old part of the house and not the first floor, in your opinion?

@Lorski i’m pretty sure our porch is single skin though. I hate it and want to knock it down! 😂

The back end of our house is single skin, it's one brick thick with insulation and measures six inches thick, it's the old rear hall and is a small utility room and toilet now, it's only ground floor and is probably similar to the back bit of a lot of terrace houses. What you have probably got is a wall with no cavity which is different

We're in a semi 1904 single skin house. We've got an application in to borrow more for an extension. Hope it passes as the back of the house has already been taken off

Your porch probably is single skin but is that just an extra bit on the front so not part of the house more like a conservatory is stuck on the back

If your house walls are ten inches thick it’s not single skin, it’s just solid wall but is two bricks thick. You’ve ticked the wrong box I reckon

Solid walls have the long face and the short face of the bricks showing typically

Is it single brick or double brick with no cavity? If it is single brick, you may have a problem- check your survey when you bought- if it didn't say it was single brick, you may have a case against the surveyor. Freiunds of ours suceeded with such a case (the survey said double brick no cavity and it was single- the surveyors insurance paid for a new exterior skin to the one wall in question).

Huge areas of ther UK are designated as unsuitable for cavity wall insulation. Most of the NW of England, just for starters. It can cause awful damp problems, especially but not only with older houses.

@HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas yep, all except a side wall upstairs where my sons room is. It’s thinner wall (approx 7 inches) but only on the upstairs 🤷‍♀️

We had this exact same issue in April this year.

did the surveyor do a drive by or in person survey?

We we’re rejected by one provider and then a second provider accepted.

the first provider did an in person survey and the surveyor said no based on it being single skin (1860s).

the second provider did a drive by valuation and initially rejected us because it was the same surveyor who again said it was single skin. We appealed and we were given the mortgage extension.

it was so stressful but we got there in the end.

We ended up using United Trust Bank who approved the extra money.

(we also had one wall in a bedroom that was single skin and were applying for extra money on our mortgage).

Most of the houses around here are single skinned (1930s build) and loads sell with no issues. In fact the family over the road moved in just this week and I’m pretty sure they must have a mortgage since the asking price was £495k.

I’m now worried as just measured the thickness of one wall upstairs and it’s not thick enough to be a solid wall. I’m not sure where I stand now. Especially as a wall that’s only seemingly 7 inches thick with panelling, (so probably Only single brick) from what I understand from reading this page, that will never be granted a mortgage as deemed unsafe.
We didn’t have a detailed survey on the house when we bought it ten years ago but nothings ever been mentioned until now.
If this is the case, I’m now worried that no lender will lend to us and that it’s generally an unsafe place to live 🥲
(although been here for 130 years 🤷‍♀️)
If it’s a single brick wall upstairs )not downstairs as walls are too thick) is there anyone who knows if there’s any way we can do anything to pull this back? I’m petrified we’re going to have paid all our money in to something that will never be worth anything.

I can't somehow picture how the ground floor wall is a normal solid wall and the wall above it isn't, was the first floor bit with the single brick added on afterwards like people sometimes build an extension room over a garage. I suppose it depends how long ago it was done whether there is paperwork for it.

I just can’t understand why it would be thinner! We just always thought the old part of the house was like a 2 up 2 down cottage built in 1890 ish. Tbh I can’t remember exactly where we got that info, whether it’s on paperwork or something else. Ground floor walls all the way round are thick, front wall is thick, back part of the house ie extension built 100.years later so cavity.
ita just the upstairs side wall that only appears to be around 7inches thick but is panelled.

Sounds like lenders are just being overly cautious in the current times. Are you actually looking to sell anytime soon?

If not, I really wouldn't worry about it now. Things in the housing market/mortgages change so rapidly.

@spidermonkeys no! I’m just worried for the future now. This is all new to me! Until 4 days ago I’d never heard of single skin!