soapstar Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Hey Folks, Getting ever closer to actually starting the build! Currently trying to navigate through the Mortgage application etc and have some questions which I hope some of you can shed some light on because I am getting very confused! To start off our lender is requiring us to show proof of site insurance, we are using a main contractor for the build to which they have their own site insurance policy. We have sent this off to the broker and been told this will probably not comply with the lender as it is not specific to our build. Has anyone had this issue? Seems like a sneaky way to get us to buy their Site Insurance! Structural Warranty. We are using our own Architect to sign off the build who is covered by Indemnity Insurance (10 Million), is this enough to satisfy most lenders instead of buying a separate Structural Warranty for £1500? This would cover for 10 years however from what I gather our architect would also be covered for 10 years with his indemnity insurance? I have done some searching on the web and the opinion on an Architects Certificate being enough seems to vary. Does anyone know or perhaps used their architects certificate to satisfy structural warranty criteria of their lender? Also our builder who is NHBC register has told us they would recommend using an Architect to sign off? Seems odd given they are registered with NHBC. I am very confused! ? Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 For the lender I went with it was one of the three below to provide assurance to them: Architect/Surveyor inspections NHBC registered builder Structural warranty I went down the Surveyor route as it seemed to be the most cheapest to tick the lender box. Circumstances vary for everybody, if you have plans to sell you might need more assurance. I think all three is way over the top. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 46 minutes ago, soapstar said: Hey Folks, Getting ever closer to actually starting the build! Currently trying to navigate through the Mortgage application etc and have some questions which I hope some of you can shed some light on because I am getting very confused! To start off our lender is requiring us to show proof of site insurance, we are using a main contractor for the build to which they have their own site insurance policy. We have sent this off to the broker and been told this will probably not comply with the lender as it is not specific to our build. Has anyone had this issue? Seems like a sneaky way to get us to buy their Site Insurance! Structural Warranty. We are using our own Architect to sign off the build who is covered by Indemnity Insurance (10 Million), is this enough to satisfy most lenders instead of buying a separate Structural Warranty for £1500? This would cover for 10 years however from what I gather our architect would also be covered for 10 years with his indemnity insurance? I have done some searching on the web and the opinion on an Architects Certificate being enough seems to vary. Does anyone know or perhaps used their architects certificate to satisfy structural warranty criteria of their lender? Also our builder who is NHBC register has told us they would recommend using an Architect to sign off? Seems odd given they are registered with NHBC. I am very confused! ? Thanks for the help! You will need site insurance regardless of what your builder has which will cover someone walking into the site and being injured or worse and will cover your building for vandalism or fire damage Your builders policy won’t cover either If your mortgage lender is happy with an architect cert and your not thinking of selling then go with that Quite a few mortgage lenders won’t accept an Architect cert HSBC being one Even with an architect cert or a warranty You will still need BC to sign the property of You can use private or local authority 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapstar Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) Thanks @Thedreamer Yes it would seem very over the top having all three. I keep getting the feeling the broker/lender is trying to sell more products to us than we need but maybe i am wrong! @nod From what you say it seems as if we will need our own Site Insurance, whats another £600! In regards to signing off this is also confusing. From what I can gather from the correspondence with the broker/lender each stage we will have the lenders own surveyor coming out to inspect to make sure the funds can be released, we will also have my own architect signing off each stage (for what reason I am beginning to wonder now?) and also building control (again why do they need to sign off each stage if the architect is doing this or vice versa?). Does this seem right? To me this seems very inefficient but maybe i am missing something here... In my head all we should need is an inspection from one body be it the lender, BC or my architect to sign off each stage? Or at the very most the lenders own sign off and either my architect OR Building Control signing off, not both... Edited January 29, 2020 by soapstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 BC are the main ones The warranty people couldn’t care Leas Send me some photos is there line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapstar Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 I have now got clarification on this matter in case it helps someone down the line. Given we are not paying for 'Structural Warranty' or using our builders NHBC cover and using our own architect to sign off the build at each stage, we are therefore required to pay a 'technical audit' charge (£300) per inspection the architect will carry out, this involves the lenders own surveyor coming our at the same time as our architect at each stage. The cost implications seem to work out around the same as purchasing a structural warranty package which covers all of this. On top of this you will have BC coming out to inspect at each stage, surely there is no cost involved in this and is covered by the BW application fee but I wouldn't be surprised ? As for the site insurance as expected our own builders policy will not cover our specific build, meaning we will have to purchase our own policy. Excellent! On that note can anyone recommend where to get our Site Insurance? We have been quoted from BuildCare for approximately £600 - does this seem reasonable? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 I use Self Build Zone for my site insurance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hi @soapstar I got two years from here for £700 https://www.tradedirectinsurance.co.uk/insurance-products/self-build-insurance/ I think the surveyor and the architect both inspecting together is still to much. Are you not just paying two professionals to do one job? Building control do a few inspections during the build but won't charge, as this is covered by your building warrant fee. What are your intentions with the house, can you ever imagine selling within ten years? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapstar Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 15 hours ago, Thedreamer said: Hi @soapstar I got two years from here for £700 https://www.tradedirectinsurance.co.uk/insurance-products/self-build-insurance/ I think the surveyor and the architect both inspecting together is still to much. Are you not just paying two professionals to do one job? Building control do a few inspections during the build but won't charge, as this is covered by your building warrant fee. What are your intentions with the house, can you ever imagine selling within ten years? Hi @Thedreamer Thanks for the link. Our original quote was for 6 months so that seems a good price you got! I will check them out. Yes it doesn't seem quite right does it! Perhaps I have interpreted this wrong and the £300 charge for each stage is because we are not using the lender and instead our own architect - I need to clarify this further as its really doing my head in!! ? In regards to selling the house this is most definitely not going to happen within ten years - its taken us 7 years to get to this stage so I am staying in it for at least a good while if not 'forever' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Honestly if that is the case, I would be just ticking the lenders box and if possible cutting down on the architect fees to just design. Getting the finance is the hard bit, it was difficult getting the lender we wanted but saved a lot over the course of the build. To me money is money it's the same if it comes from one bank or another. The surveyor will produce six certificates to the lender and charged £960 in total. I also paid him £180 to check my costings with the bank at the start. I pay £50 to the building society for another surveyor to do a valuation. This has been just once to date, but I would imagine it will be £150 in total. This is the only fee I pay for the draw down. My professional fees for inspection and providing assurance to the bank is just under £1,300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 On 03/02/2020 at 20:40, Thedreamer said: Hi @soapstar I got two years from here for £700 https://www.tradedirectinsurance.co.uk/insurance-products/self-build-insurance/ I think the surveyor and the architect both inspecting together is still to much. Are you not just paying two professionals to do one job? Building control do a few inspections during the build but won't charge, as this is covered by your building warrant fee. What are your intentions with the house, can you ever imagine selling within ten years? Thought I'd try a price for my renewal with these guys. Sadly they won't take on a pre-existing self build so couldn't help me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 1 hour ago, Vijay said: Thought I'd try a price for my renewal with these guys. Sadly they won't take on a pre-existing self build so couldn't help me They are underwritten by Zurich which is good. I always like to see a business/logo that I know. I did the classic mistake where I need another 3-6 months as it expires in March, so probably going to be penalised for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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