Alternatives to Ecology Building Society?

[FelixtheHousecat]

I had been in conversations with Ecology BS about arranging a mortgage, though I hadn't applied.

And now they're not doing self-build loans any more, which is annoying.

 

Any other recommendations out there?

[G and J]

Not applied, but have spoken to Hanley Economic. They were very helpful, but would be worth looking at their website as they detail what type of property they'll lend on.....our planning design of timber frame with more that 50% timber cladding did not meet their guidelines.

[Oz07]

When did ecology pull out i thought they had a good rep here

[freshy]

On 18/09/2024 at 10:34, Oz07 said:

When did ecology pull out i thought they had a good rep here

I just spoke with them. They are not pulling out, self-build mortgage applications are on hold until October.

[Alan Ambrose]

FYI these kind of companies often have quotas of various kinds of customer & risk to balance their portfolios.

 

When they have reached the quota of one type, they'll downplay it until the others risks (in terms of monetary volume) have caught up a bit.

 

That way they keep their portfolios how they want them.

[FelixtheHousecat]

@Alan Ambrose - I hope you're right and they've just hit their Q3 underwriting limits.

 

But if they don't resurrect it at the start of October I'll have to look elsewhere as time will be getting a bit tight.

[mickeych]

Agree with @Alan Ambrose they all have limits on the amount, risk and geographical splits for their book of lending to keep within their loan book tolerance. 

 

We tried a number of direct including ecology and the biggest brokers but eventually went with Glenn @Mayflower mortgages. They are a self-build mortgage broker but what a breath of fresh air. Incredibly helpful and a real source of intelligence when most responded 'computer says no' 

 

 

[PNAmble]

14 minutes ago, mickeych said:

They are a self-build mortgage broker but what a breath of fresh air. Incredibly helpful and a real source of intelligence when most responded 'computer says no' 

We also used Glenn,  with both of us self employed with different company structures he really helped us get what we needed.  

[Nic]

On 18/09/2024 at 10:34, Oz07 said:

When did ecology pull out i thought they had a good rep here

I don’t know but they confirmed this to me this morning with no explanation 

[Ian Phillips]

Ecology have been amazing for us. We are just about to pay off our self build mortgage to Ecology, so they will have at least 1 more mortgage they could in theory set up.

 

[Amateur bob]

any update on the ecology situation, i will need to apply for a mortgage in the next few weeks in central scotland what are my other options apart from buildstore?

[FelixtheHousecat]

Appreciate I've left this a long time, but Ecology are still not offering mortgages for self-build.

I went through Mayflower in the end.

[Amateur bob]

On 19/09/2024 at 11:55, freshy said:

I just spoke with them. They are not pulling out, self-build mortgage applications are on hold until October.

any word on when they are reentering the market?

[Amateur bob]

On 20/09/2024 at 23:04, FelixtheHousecat said:

@Alan Ambrose - I hope you're right and they've just hit their Q3 underwriting limits.

 

But if they don't resurrect it at the start of October I'll have to look elsewhere as time will be getting a bit tight.

any word on them reentering the market?

[Amateur bob]

On 04/11/2024 at 20:59, FelixtheHousecat said:

Appreciate I've left this a long time, but Ecology are still not offering mortgages for self-build.

I went through Mayflower in the end.

what lender did mayflower set u up with?

[LiamJones]

Ecology were willing to talk to me about additional borrowing recently, so would assume they are back up and running

Edited November 26, 2024 by LiamJones

[BadgerBodger]

I spoke with them last week and they were will happy to talk about the route to offering me something for a conversion property. 

[Nic]

On 25/11/2024 at 13:37, Amateur bob said:

what lender did mayflower set u up with?

I’ve just got recommended Hanley economic BS for my self build through Mayflower. If that helps 

[BadgerBodger]

On 27/11/2024 at 20:04, Nic said:

I’ve just got recommended Hanley economic BS for my self build through Mayflower. If that helps 

Me too. And Staffordshire Railway BS from Buildstore. 

[FelixtheHousecat]

On 25/11/2024 at 13:37, Amateur bob said:

what lender did mayflower set u up with?

I've gone with Harpenden.

Mostly as they are one of the few that supports the warranty provider our contractor had set up.

Lots of things I didn't appreciate the implication of at the start of our build that now make life slightly harder!

[G and J]

11 hours ago, FelixtheHousecat said:

Mostly as they are one of the few that supports the warranty provider our contractor had set up.

Just out of interest which warranty co. did you go for (we are going to be choosing in the next month)?

[FelixtheHousecat]

On 08/12/2024 at 10:46, G and J said:

Just out of interest which warranty co. did you go for (we are going to be choosing in the next month)?

 

Federation of Master Builders - agreed it with the main contractor a while ago without really understanding the implications.

It looks fine on paper, but not many building societies have it on their pre-approved panel, so it might cause headaches.

LABC or NHBC is probably better choices.