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

[Jeremy Harris]

I agree.  I went through this process with the bastards at Santander, when they pulled their offer on the day I went in to draw it down.  Complaining locally was pointless, they just wanted to get me out of the door.  Complaining to the top just got a load of BS, none related to their contractual obligation (bearing in mind we'd already paid them their set up fees).  In the end it these people: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm  that got the ball rolling with the regulator (now the FCA, they've changed their name: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/how-complain ), and we eventually got our set up fee, valuation fee and a very small compensation cheque back.  The process took the best part of a year though, start to finish.

Edited September 20, 2017 by JSHarris

[ToughButterCup]

Debbie and I have been greatly heartened by all the support. I'll respond to all your  PMs over the next few days. Some have caused a bit of a gulp.

 

The rest of the family have rallied round and it looks as if we might be able to get to wind proof and water tight in October or early November. Might. That gives us the opportunity to avoid the expense of a caravan, or to put it more positively, get a taste of the real self-build experience.

 

Who said retirement was about taking it easy?

 

 

[vivienz]

15 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

Who said retirement was about taking it easy?

Self builders never retire - they just find different ways of being busy.

Edited September 20, 2017 by vivienz

[joe90]

Just now, vivienz said:

 

Ha, my wife is a bit miffed that I am retired and she is still working but since starting our self build I regularly work 12-14 hour days, live in a caravan ( she lives in a house with central heating). But I would not have it any other way, yes I am knackered most of the time but living the dream ( the dream is finishing !!!!!!!!!!). Chin up Ian, don't let the bastards grind you down, life, family and friends ( and I include many on this forum) are what quality of life is all about . 

 

A successful local business man just had his overdraft facility pulled by his bank for no reason, he sold his private car collection and gave the bank the "bird" and advertised the fact. He changed his bank.

[TerryE]

Ian, Jan has already given our thoughts, but it is still upsetting to here this.

 

Clearly the priority now is to get the build in a suitable weatherproof state for winter, and to give you time.  As Jan said, we found a BSoc that was willing to remortgage our existing home funded on our pension income.  For them it was a safe bet as the loan value was less than half the house value, an a lot safer bet than trying to estimate the value of a new build in progress.  It also avoided the issues of trying to sell a house next to a building site and finding somewhere to live, whilst we completed the house.

[ToughButterCup]

15 hours ago, TerryE said:

[...] It also avoided the issues of trying to sell a house next to a building site and finding somewhere to live, whilst we completed the house.

 

Got it in one.

[Jeremy Harris]

FWIW, we ended up getting an interest-only mortgage from the Leeds on our existing house, to overcome the problem caused by Santander, it wasn't good value, but we were in a corner.

 

IIRC, their maximum  loan to value for an interest-only mortgage was either 50% or 60%, I can't remember which.  It wasn't a problem for us, as we didn't need that much.  Our situation may have been similar to yours, I was retired, my wife was still working.  I'm not sure what sort of income multiplier they use, all I know is that they didn't need to know my wife's income, they were happy to lend on the basis of my pension income only.  This did speed things up, apparently, as they only needed to do one income check.  The only significant restriction was that the mortgage had a time limit of 5 years, beyond that we either had to repay it or renegotiate.

Edited September 21, 2017 by JSHarris

[ToughButterCup]

19 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

[...] The only significant restriction was that the mortgage had a time limit of 5 years, beyond that we either had to repay it or renegotiate.

 

Got it in another one. 

I refuse to be beaten by this.

To strain a flying dictum; at the moment, I'd rather be on the ground looking up, than where I am now, looking down at the ground wishing I'd not taken off. But turbulence happens - often where we least expect it. I, we just have to keep our nerve and deal with it. And try to enjoy it. There is no easy way to be airsick in a microlight. 

 

Hence I'm about to hit you all with a stream of 'How do I?' (next one will be put in the first floor - watch this space)

[SteamyTea]

Have you looked at crowdsourcing, not the same, but some guy was trying to raise money for this:

https://www.gofundme.com/9wvxt9-replacement-window

[ToughButterCup]

15 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Have you looked at crowdsourcing,[...]

 

Steamy, we're still at the spreadsheet stage. But there's a growing determination to get the job done one way or another.

 

Looking round the Fylde, you can see a handful of housing projects which have (apparently) stalled. HERAS been up for a couple of years and no real progress evident. My problem is not unique.

But we do live next door, I can do stuff anytime I like, I am retired with nowt else to do except think and be as creative as I can.

 

I can plan. I can network. I can beg. I can steal. I can borrow. I can earn more money than I am at the moment. Where's the hardship in that? Why it would be as difficult as the average BH member working all day and coming back at night to get on with it

Every day I see faces of local people walking past the site green with envy, some sneers, some smiles. How many hundreds of couples would give their back teeth to have my problems? I am very very lucky.

[Jeremy Harris]

Ian,

 

Our build stalled because, frankly, I lost it mentally a couple of years ago, around the time of the borehole saga.  It took a long time to get back to doing constructive work; somehow I just felt very depressed about the mammoth amount of work left to do.  Added to that, our old house started to develop problems, too, partly as a result of me having done little maintenance whilst I was focussed on plot hunting, planning and starting the new build.

 

Running out of money didn't help, either, although thankfully I've managed to pull in some contracting work that has pretty much paid for all the remaining materials needed, and left a bit over for a holiday.

 

The latter is key.  I have my wife to thank for spotting the state I was getting into and booking a holiday, without telling me, so I had to take a break from the build.  I came back from that with a changed approach.  I don't set out to do ten hour days, either on the old house or the few small jobs on the new one.  I set out to spend at least two hours a day only, actually working, and then use any time after my "allotted" two hours to work if I feel like it, or do something more relaxing, like planning things to do or change, or do a bit of research. 

 

Having the odd consulting job coming in helps a great deal, as it's totally different to working on the house, and often involves a fair bit or research, data gathering and analysis, activities that are far removed from putting insulation up in the workshop roof, or painting walls.

 

My biggest hurdle now is clearing out and making saleable our old house.  It's accumulated a massive amount of clutter, and I hate throwing stuff away, as I know that as soon as I do I will find a use for it...........

Edited September 22, 2017 by JSHarris

[ToughButterCup]

@JSHarris, there isn't a week goes by without me remembering that post of yours (Link to it here for those who are interested:)

 

When I re-tell that story of yours: everyone winces. But it's the repeated re-telling of your particular story, and the telling of similar stories here on BH that, frankly, puts a bit of lead in my pencil. It puts our hiccup into perspective. It's the reality mixed with honesty that hooks you. And so inspires. Then re-kindles resilience. And we all need a bit of that.

 

[Pocster]

Borrow all you can to get to a predetermined state . Sale all you can to fund . I knew when I started I'd get no funding the conventional self build mortgage route so didn't bother .

banks are always wankers .