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Anyone had this issue from lenders being generally unhappy and unwilling to lend based on the following condition? This is in our planning permission: "Condition 9 - The development hereby permitted shall be constructed to Building Regulation Part G(2)(b) standards limiting water consumption to 110 litres per person per day. Reason: To reduce demand for finite resources as the district is in a water scarce area. This condition is imposed in accordance with Policy SP10 of the Local Plan." Lenders and valuers alike are concerned about the implications of the above condition under the principle that it affects the saleability of the property, and therefore negatively affects it's value and security.

Hi All, The Help to Build equity loan scheme launched today with Darlington BS being the first lender to offer it. Does anyone else see any benefit in doing it because it is linked to the value of the house not how much you borrow? The help to buy was structured similarly and has been reported as a 'nice little earner' for the government because house prices have been going up. I understand that there are benefits in terms of being able to put a 5% deposit down and not pay interest for 5 years but long term I see the help to build as being even worse than help to buy? I think it is the reason for it being worse is because self builders create value by building a house. Even one of the examples in the guide it shows that you borrow £70k and on day 1 you have to pay £100k back because on day 1 once the house has been built it is worth significantly more than the cost. Then over time, as the house value goes up, that £100k that you have to pay back goes up in line with the value of the house. Granted the scheme works in the same way if house prices go down but the trend for house prices over the last 50 yrs is that they have gone up, quite significantly in recent times. Does anyone else have any similar views? Thanks!

Hey Everyone, I am looking into self build funding and see Ecology mentioned on this forum quite a lot. Few questions: - When Ecology grant a mortgage, do you have a monthly payment up front, or do they class this as a development type finance and roll it into the exit? - I am assuming you only pay interest on the drawn down funds, rather than interest on for example a 500k mortgage up front? - Would they take first charge over an existing property as part of the mortgage process or just provide the additional funds to build the new house as a 2nd charge Thanks Chris

Hello, We're very new to the self build world and are seeking some advice! We have the opportunity to convert some old stables on my parents land into a new house. My parents have said that they will sign the land over to us. We would be looking to start building work in just over a year's time - giving us time to find an architect, get planning permission and approve the plans before we relocate. We currently have a traditional mortgage on our terraced house that we plan to sell to release some capital (estimated at around 130k). Once all the plans were sorted in 12 months time we plan to pack in our jobs and relocate into an existing property on my parents land to start the build. We would then get new jobs close to my parents location. We've had an informal chat with an architect (who although not from the area) has provided a guestimate figure of around 300k to convert the property. Neither of us are great DIY-ers so we wouldn't want to commit to doing the project ourselves although we'd be happy to labour etc. We're now starting to feel this project will fall at the first hurdle as we've learnt it's not as simple to relocate and expect to get finance to fund the shortfall Despite having good credit history and not failing on our current mortgage payments, we would both have new jobs in a new area. We don't relish the idea of starting the project without having finance to complete it. We've gone through the RIBA service who've shortlisted some architects for us (and we've got excited seeing their portfolios) but we don't want to waste time contacting firms if there's not way we can make this work. Does anyone have any experience / advice on relocating to a new area and obtaining finance to complete a self build project? Or do we just have to sit it out and wait for at least 6 months until we can apply for credit or a self build mortgage? Thanks for any help or advice....

Good afternoon; this is my first question here, and is the one that prompted me to join The Hub! My partner and I are so very much hoping to start building on our plot this autumn/winter. We have enough savings to get the groundworks (foundations, drainage...) done (estimated at about £37,000), and our builder has said he could get that done in the autumn. Good. The we can get started on the build in early spring. We need a mortgage to complete the build, but are very unsure as to when would be the best time to submit our application. Can you apply for a mortgage once your foundations are laid? Or are some Building Societies tricky about this? It is a question we just don't seem to be able to get an answer to! Also, does anybody know the average maximum time between having a mortgage approved and the first drawdown? (As it might be a very much safer option to have everything in place before starting the foundations). I hope my question is understandable. I am very keen for the time to come when I can answer questions instead of asking them!