Stuck for mortgage

stringbean

Hi folks,
I'm at my wits end, basically cannot get a mortgage due to the location of our site - it is on a shared lane with a farm in close proximity. We have foundations in but would need a mortgage to start the build proper.

We have contacted a couple of lenders but on both occasions, following a valuation both have basically said they would not be prepared to lend on such a site.

There was no issues with getting planning permission and building control but We're now out of ideas and how to proceed, if at all, and would appreciate if anyone else was in similar position and if there is anything we can do.

I've attached a site layout.

Any help much appreciated!

archtech

Why did you start without getting approval first.

If the banks aren't prepared to lend based on the valuation, either the house is costing too much (could be its too big) or you paid over the odds for the site.

If you have had three firm refusals, you may qualify for a Council Mortgage

stringbean

We had to start the foundations in order to retain planning permission (we're based in NI).

The problem isn't on getting the sufficient funds based on the cost of the build, it is basically that from a mortgagers point of view the site doesn't have a resale value, in fact one valuer put a £nil value on the property.

spader2014

We were in a similar position when we started to build our house in Co Armagh . We had remortgaged existing home to buy site and when our old home was sold had to raise finance on the site. In the end the mortgage application went through ok, as we owned the laneway whereas the 2 other users had "right of ways" for access to their fields. The laneway was used to access fields in our case, not farm yards or buildings.

Assuming you haven't done so already, I would suggest the following.

1) Establish who owns the lane way and what the right of ways are.
2) Find a mortgage advisor who has dealt with similar problems, or approach a valuer who does work for banks to see if they can suggest a solution.
3) If possible, change the access point to your site away from the shared laneway, or discuss with the other users the possibility of creating another laneway for their sole use.

Good luck!

Dhoust

Hi,
My husband and I have now found ourselves in same position. We have right of way over a shared lane with my parents in Co Antrim with a farm in close proximity to lane. The farm however is not visible from the site nor does it use the same lane or access. One lender actually classed it as land locked due to fact that my father owns neighbouring land! Any ideas of how we could proceed or names of good mortgage advisor?
Thanks

kboc

I have a site passed in derry, where i will be travelling down a shared lane approx 300/400 metres.

I own to the middle of the lane, another farm owns to the middle from the other half, a third farmer has a right of way over this lane to get to his agricultal field.

I have been advised to create a "new" lane, on my own ground which will run immediately parallel to the current lane. My new lane will possibly swan neck back onto present lane where present lane meets public road.

This might be a suggestion, but you would have to own the ground on one half to do this and the professionals working for you would have to be ok with this, i.e. appropriately redrawing site/lane boundaries.

Dhoust

Thanks, we did actually try to get a lane passed parallel but it was refused by planning. We have the option to own the lane and give my father right of way but solicitor was not convinced this would help. We also have the option to own the field adjacent to lane so this may help as the lenders don't seem to like the lane being owned by immediate family for some reason!

stringbean

Dhoust wrote: »

Thanks, we did actually try to get a lane passed parallel but it was refused by planning. We have the option to own the lane and give my father right of way but solicitor was not convinced this would help. We also have the option to own the field adjacent to lane so this may help as the lenders don't seem to like the lane being owned by immediate family for some reason!

We also discussed this with the bank and they stated they prefer if it wasn't immediate family on the lane, the bank's line of thinking being that should the lender default on the mortgage, they will have great difficulty selling the house to a 3rd party with so many close family members.

We have contacted the DOE about this issue of getting a second lane running parallel - they recognised that the lenders and the planners are going in opposite directions in relation to shared lanes and have opened an enquiry into our case. It's a very frustrating situation to say the least!