This is not an easy post to write.....

[ToughButterCup]

Yesterday afternoon, we found out that the funding for our project was cancelled. For over two years we thought (were repeatedly assured)  we had our build financed but we were wrong. The nitty gritty doesn't matter: in fact to describe how and why it happened would be inappropriate.  The money isn't there. It's not as if we weren't warned by Aesop: The Milkmaid and Her Pail

 

Welcome, therefore, to the full-on-self-build-experience.  Oh Kevin McCloud , where are you when there's a true bit of drama? My trite Army-learned 'Can't take a joke, shouldn'a started ' doesn't even begin to cut it. Whisky, tears, drunken babbling, sleeplessness, listlessness, anger.

 

The pair of us red-eyed, swearing and staring at spreadsheets lead to the following conclusions;

• Sell our cottage in good order next Spring - divert current funds to that end
• With minimal help, do lots of jobs myself 
• Where possible and safe, cut corners: focus on good quality infrastructure: extend the term of the full build
• Sell the digger

I'm really not sure I can take much more sleeplessness. Been catching up from the last disaster in July.  And we were so ecstatic  after our final pour on Friday. The shell of the house is up and safe. Scaffolding on its way down.

And still many people would give their eye teeth to have the opportunity we have been given. Especially neighbours.

 

It's the  Do Lots Of Jobs  Myself  bit that scares me. I'm not asking for sympathy, just understanding  when I post how-to-do-this-really-cheaply-and-on-my-own questions. More to follow tomorrow.

Ian

[Jeremy Harris]

Bloody hell, Ian, that's a shocker, especially given everything else you've had to deal with recently.

 

I can very much sympathise, as the bastards at Santander did the same to us, right at the very last minute, as I related here:

 

 

[SteamyTea]

Sell your current place, cash is king in this world.

[Nickfromwales]

And there was me thinking only I got such shit luck. 

Sorry to hear that ian. Chin up and engage the brain, there will be a way through you'll just have to find it.  

[Lesgrandepotato]

Oh bloody hell. You really do get the rub of the green don't you. It'll only be the sweeter once it's finally sorted :-) 

[ProDave]

Sorry to hear of the predicament.  You are not the first to be shafted like that from lenders, it happened to us (in a much smaller way) a few years back. At least name and shame the lender so others can choose if they like, not to give them any business. (for the record it was Lloyds that shafted us)

 

I am sure you all know our predicament, the inability to sell the old house that should have been financing this one. That is now let to a tenant and our new build is edging along ever so slowly on virtually a materials only basis as and when we earn enough to buy a bit more.

 

At lest doing more yourself means you will in the end get a cheaper house. Don't be scared, whatever task you are confronted with, someone here will be able to guide you, that's what buildhub is all about.

 

Do as we did, complete all the heavy landscaping, drainage etc so you have finished with the digger early in the project so you can sell it (there are not many people with a new house barely at first fix who have been regularly mowing the lawn for over a year now)

 

I hope you have better house selling luck than we did.

 

Get a static caravan ready for when you sell the cottage

 

 

[Guest Alphonsox]

That is very bad news Ian, You do seem to be getting more than your fair share of bad luck at the moment. Is there another lender you could approach ?

[Temp]

Gosh that's rough.  If selling your current house would raise money then presumably you have some equity in it. Perhaps consider a second mortgage on that place? Might be faster than selling it? 

 

[Construction Channel]

[Oz07]

Silver cloud perhaps. At least if brexit depresses property prices a bit after the event then at least you may have already sold. Plus cutting out finance costs. Just delaying it a bit

[PeterW]

Ian - that's shite news. 

 

Apply for a couple of interest free credit cards. Get a loan.

 

Borrow whatever you can and get it watertight then STOP ..!!!

 

Take a couple of weeks - take stock, and look at what needs to happen. Then make a plan - a proper plan and then double every  task in time. Work out what you need, and only order what you need to do the job in the next week. 

 

But most of all - ask. There is more experience and support here than you will ever need. We are here for you...

 

 

[vivienz]

Bloody awful.  I really, really hate banks - they never truly get what they deserve for messing up people's lives,

[Trw144]

Ian, I don't know your exact circumstances but what about a rent to buy mortgage on your current place? I.e. Get a buy to let on your cottage - I don't think it would be the end of the world if by unfortunate luck you couldn't find a tenant and stayed there yourself.

[jack]

Ian that's horrible news. You have my deepest sympathy.

 

I'd be very happy to donate a few days of my time at some point if it helps. Skills aren't so strong, but I have all my fingers, am stronger than I look, and am a highly efficient biscuits-to-work converter.

 

No need to reply now, but have a think about it in due course.

 

Keep your pecker up in the meantime. 

[Triassic]

Just a thought, We capital raised using our last house to buy the current one. Maybe you could do the same, assuming you can make the mortgage payments. Bugger! You really are in a horrible place.

 

Maybe once you've had time to think, you should name the institution that pulled the rug on you, at the very least it may help others steer clear of them.

[Stones]

To quote Captain Darling's last diary entry, "bugger"

 

Short term finance / credit card to get wind and watertight a priority. Raising finance on your current cottage worth actively exploring.

[Bitpipe]

Can only sympathise Ian, makes small beer of our speed bump with Tesco bank (who too 16 weeks to tell us that we couldn't do the rebuild while under their mortgage and then kept changing their mind).

 

I can recommend the caravan on site option. Stay optimistic, there's always a way forward. 

 

p.s. don't be tempted to drink cheap whisky to save money, that's definitely a false economy. 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Bitpipe

[MikeSharp01]

Cripes - miserable you both will be especially after all your fights so far from Newts, and fingers to gales. I am so sorry to hear this news and feel for you. The property market is softening so perhaps convert into cash is the best way forward although a rigorous assessment of your joint desire to live in a caravan while getting the build completed is a must I suspect.

[Onoff]

So sorry to hear this.

 

No chance of getting the cottage in reasonable order and renting it out whilst going the caravan route? Maybe build the shed/garage first for temporary storage space etc.

[dogman]

2 hours ago, recoveringacademic said:

It's the  Do Lots Of Jobs  Myself 

Ian 

sorry to hear about your latest set back. 

All i can offer is encouragement to do as much as you can yourself. Your journey so far has shown you can do it, and with the help and advice from members most jobs are within the skill set of a competent person.

Don't set unrealistic time-scales just work through each job, shopping around for cheap deals on items.

 

Our first self build had the cheapest bathrooms and kitchens that we could find and we shopped around for second hand goods.

You can cut thousands off a build cost  this way 

[joe90]

So sorry to hear of your latest disaster, we too hate banks ( Barclays) as they pulled finance at the last minute for us a few years ago. Shame I am so far away as I too would willing help where I could.  Bugger indeed.

[Crofter]

Ouch. You're a rational, logical, objective person- these are the traits you need to move from today to the day you complete.

If you need to ask how to do every step of the build yourself, you'll be in good company on this forum.

Hope you're taking this evening off with a glass of something good.

[ProDave]

The day I laid off my builder (nearly 2 years ago now and thankfully amicably, he knew the situation) when re realised it was the only way to stop the project bankrupting us was a sad day. There has been a lot of soul searching, agonising, hatred for the financial "situation", hatred for the people that made it so, despair that the house might never get finished, anger at the sheer number of problems that lie ahead to be solved.

 

You WILL find a way. We have. Our build will be completed, 99% by me and SWMBO by our sheer grit and determination. It will take longer, a lot longer. There are ways to find the finance, sometimes from unexpected places, but we are resolute, we will NOT borrow, I would not wish to give any bank the pleasure of collecting interest payments from us, I still hold them in too much contempt to add to their profit.

 

When it is all done, and the old house eventually sold, we will have our nice low energy comfortable house. It will have cost us less than we expected but the payback for that is I will have done a lot more of the work myself.

 

Your end game remains the same. It's just how and when you get there that has changed. Take your time, don't make decisions in a hurry, you will find a way.  Like most problems that have been thrown at you, one day you will thank the banks for the fact they saved you so much in interest charges by declining your business. They are the ones that will be poorer in the end as a result of their choices.

[jamiehamy]

Rotten news - BUT if you stick with this,  you will look back in only 5 years from now and see significant upsides. 

 

We've been lucky enough to finance our build without relying on banks - so it's going to have taken best part of three years of weekends and evenings. But the end is in sight - mortgage free. 

 

So you've had a set back - have a look back and work out how much interest to u are not going to pay. That will bring some relief right away. 

 

Also - you're half way there. You really are. A couple of months work and you'll be water tight of a form then you can plan and prepare for the next stage. 

 

You're all in now - you're not going to give in because you'd spend the rest of yours days wondering why you gave up. 

 

People ask us how we do it and as time we've realised it's just our lifestyle now. It's tough but never a chore. We work at our pace. As much as we need a break both of us, any time off is not spent relaxing because we're thinking of what we could be doing on the house. Hopefully that'll be you - the house will be your lifestyle for the next while-lifestyle being a choice. 

 

We're all behind you. We want to hear the end of this story and are prepared to wait - even as long as @Onoffs bathroom! 

 

Good luck Ian.

 

 

[jack]

Just now, jamiehamy said:

and are prepared to wait - even as long as @Onoffs bathroom! 

 

Let's not overdo it!