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Hi, I’m a 39 year old who has rented his entire life. I don’t see owning my own home as a reality despite having always paid my rent on time. I’ve just never been in a position to save enough for a deposit and the goalposts keep moving. My wife and I are considering an extension on my parents property so we can live upstairs and they can move downstairs. I believe there is £50k left on the property and my old man has considered putting the mortgage in our joint names so we can remortgage and borrow the funds this way. (I will pay off the remaining mortgage and whatever we borrow). I am assuming before getting builders or architects involved the first point of call would be to approach a lender to see what the maximum we can borrow is? My dad however wants to talk to a builder, architect etc to get an approximate cost before speaking to lenders, but I worry if we go down that route the budget will keep stretching. I prefer the idea of having a finite amount I know I can play with rather than drawing a designing we can afford in reality. I would be so grateful for any pointers. Thanks in advance.

Hi, wondering if anyone had experience of getting a self-build mortgage on a timber clad house? All the TF designs we've been considering are timber clad (its for a rural part of Scotland and these seem pretty attractive to the planners and I also prefer it over block and render), however I understand that only 2 or 3 lenders will offer a mortgage on a fully timber clad house. I've love to hear if people know who these lenders are and if this is an issue folks have come up against. Thanks

Anyone had experience of this crowd?

Chatting today with friends thinking about sorting out their housing situation before retirement, they are trying to find a way out of rental. The position is that they potentially have a significant deposit (for round here), and are looking to buy/renovate/extend or potentially self-build. The complications are: 1 - He is a self-employed professional driver, aged just over 60. A couple of years of accounts + several years employed beforehand. 2 - She is not gainfully employed at present. State and professional pensions will be along in a few years. The mortgage size is not a problem to manage if they can get a decent length of term, but the first broker contacted commented that the medical tests around being a professional driver would prevent mortgage lenders allowing a term beyond the age of 70. That makes the length of mortgage a problem, as a 10 year mortgage *would* be a strain. Therefore they are looking for lenders who: 1 - Will consider self-employed. 2 - Will consider either pro-drivers beyond 70, or take pensions into account for the latter part of a mortgage term. It is likely that he will continue beyond 70 full or part time, but that does not shift the criteria. Does anyone know of any possibilities? I see that Cumberland Building Society will lend beyond 70, so they are one to contact for a start - but being a (relative) whippersnapper it is not an area I have researched before. Any others? Cheers Ferdinand

I have an offer accepted on a plot, subject to planning permission. To complete the purchase of the land I need finance along with my deposit. The broker I have spoken to said I need planning permission and detailed costings before they will lend against it (standard I assume). Does this need to be by a qualified person? There seems to be a bit of a circle here, I have a budget which I need to stick to, so I need to get the planning through with a design I think will be on budget, then get it costed and hope it comes out on budget. I then have to hope the mortgage company will accept the expected build cost. There feels like there are so many hurdles (probably more that I don't know about) which could trip up the whole process. I really don't want to be in a situation where I've got planning permission, paid all the costs, then for something to mean I can't complete the transaction. The contract says I have to complete within 7 days of gaining planning permission. Surely there is an easy way to do this and I'm over thinking it? It's stressing me out a little, so any help will be much appreciated. Sadly I don't quite have enough to buy the land outright.