oksleator

Bummer. seems the architect didn't inspect during the build so he wont sign off on it. They've found someone who will issue a retrospective PCC but our lender wont accept that. It seems lenders have really tightened the noose on this in the last couple of years.

Hi thanks, I did read that one but I wasn't sure how a retrospective PCC would go down. The key criteria from our lender seems to be that someone in a professional capacity is willing to say they saw the property being built correctly during the build. If the vendor has had his architect out during the build, and they are willing to sign a PCC confirming that, then we should be fine. Those discussions are going on right now. If he didn't come out at all, then that will be a problem, unless they come up with some shady agreement between them. Which I personally would have no issue with but obviously want no knowledge of. If they can't get this, then we approach all lenders who look less hung up on this. I'll start with the ones mentioned earlier. There's a builder working on our road who does this kind of work, and he said lenders have tightened up their criteria severely in the last few years. He's sold houses he's done up without issue, but then when the purchasers have come to sell again, they've been stuck as there is no builders warranty. He said it never used to be an issue.

Okay thanks Gary, that sounds like a good one to explore!

Thanks both. The vendors have been renting it out to a friend, so it has been occupied. Not sure they would be able to claim otherwise as it's mentioned on the conveyancer forms and it's obvious from the photos. I didn't realise self build mortgages were a separate thing. I am very green in this area, I thought I was just buying a regular house! We've always lived in old houses so a new build wasn't even on our radar, I always deselect those from our rightmove search criteria, but it is the perfect house which is why we are now in this mess. Our natwest mortgage offer was 4.12% (and we're borrowing 250k). Looking at self build mortgage rates that would be a huge difference in what we'd pay - they're coming in high sixes and sevens. I think if we get forced down that route we would need the vendors to meet us in the middle to at least get us over the 10 year from build term. You guys have been so much more help than our broker and conveyancer. Thank you!

Thanks Jilly. Good suggestions. The owner is in discussions with the architect on the build so I'm hoping they come up with some solutions today. In the meantime, we will speak to some other brokers.

Yeah we've asked about indemnities and received a hard no from the main lenders. If they get nowhere with an architect, I will see if we can find a specialist broker who takes on hopeless cases, but we'd have to weigh up the risks of that especially with mortgage rates as they are (and I personally don't feel they will go down). I have a sinking feeling we will not be moving anywhere, but trying to maintain some form of hope!

Thanks, will do. The vendor is in discussion with their architect. 🤞 they pull something out of the bag.

Yeah I've laid it all out in an email to the estate agents to pass on to the buyers. Hopefully they can sort it out. I've emphasised we're still keen, we're happy to contribute to costs to resolve it, and this will likely bite them in the ass if decided to market it again to someone else. We've been poring over rightmove all afternoon and there's nothing else out there that we'd consider, so if there are any creative solutions we can come up between all of us, we'll be up for trying them.

Yeah it will definitely be reduced in value if it's unmortgageable. I'm sure they'll still sell it, as it's a lovely house in an amazing location. We will be heartbroken not to get it. But unfortunately, we need a mortgage. No rich family floating around in our backgrounds to bail us out.

Our broker has pretty much told us to buy another house. Our broker has been scouring the market but is coming up blank against any lenders who will accept a retrospective warranty. Maybe lenders have really tightened up in the last couple of years? We are low risk borrowers otherwise. We've gone back to our vendors to see if they can get a PCC but as it was built during covid, I'm guessing their architect didn't visit. I'm holding out hope that he did. The ball is now in their court, I guess.

ha, right, that makes sense. Thanks!

Hi Alan, thanks for the response. I'm a bit ignorant, what is an 'SE'?

Thanks both. Have asked the conveyancer to ask the lender if they'll accept retrospective but no response yet. Have also asked the broker to explore other options, again not responding. Good to hear Virgin and BoI might be an option though, I will pass that on to him.

Hi Joe, sorry to hear about your divorce. Yes, we're not worried about the condition of the house, it looks to have been done to a high spec and if any issues arise further down the line, I guess we'll just fix them, like we've done on our current (Victorian) house. We just need to get it over the line with a lender. Thanks for the approx. price, that's useful.

Hello, I stumbled across this site when trying to find information, but we're not self builders, we're purchasers, so hope it's okay to post. The house we're trying to buy (which is a stables conversion which had building sign off in 2021) has no builders warranty or PCC, I presume due to covid/they were planning on living there themselves, etc. We need a mortgage and our mortgage lender (Natwest) has just withdrawn their offer as our conveyancer notified them there was no warranty. The house is 100 sq m single story bungalow, £480k sale price, cavity wall stone building with solar panels (in the garden not on the roof) and one of those modern septic tank systems (if that makes any difference). It was built by a local builder and had a passivhouse riba qualified architect involved. We're trying to get our ducks in a row with a solution before approaching our vendors. Clearly this is an oversight by them but equally we don't want to lose the sale as we love it and there's very little like it out there. They would likely get a cash buyer for it if they relisted, it had quite a lot of interest, and most of them seemed like downsizers (we're upsizing!). Does anyone know a ballpark figure for a retrospective builders warranty for this type of property? Are these acceptable by most lenders? Are there any lenders who would lend without a PCC or builders warranty? We would be willing to contribute to the costs of a retrospective warranty especially if it was accepted by our current lender as we've secured a good rate with them, but that all depends on costs as our pockets aren't that deep right now and getting shallower with each solicitor's email! Thousands would be manageable, tens of thousands wouldn't. We've asked our broker and conveyancer for advice but they're a bit 'computer says no' with us as they don't seem to have come across this before. Thanks for the advice!