Hi everyone,

My partner and I recently got a mortgage offer agreed with Abbey for £236,500 with a deposit of £12,500 on a property purchase price of £249,000. We arranged this through a broker and it took a long time to agree, so we are very anxious to get moving somewhere soon.

Following the valuation, we decided we did not want to go ahead with the purchase of the property we originally offered on as there were some structural problems.

We found another suitable property and made an offer of £250,000. However, when we told our broker about this, she said that Abbey said we couldn't change the property details of our original offer and would have to submit another mortgage application, which could be declined. This is despite the fact that we are able to find the extra£1,000, meaning that the loan amount of the original mortgage offer is unchanged.

Surely this isn't the case? Otherwise, what would happen if the chain broke for any other reason? I had thought that once a formal mortgage offer is made, it stands for any property the buyer wishes to purchases, subject to valuation. Does anyone know what our rights are with regard to a mortgage offer?

Understandably, we don't want to have to wait several more weeks while a new mortgage offer is agreed, especially given the current lending conditions.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Confused.

Hi ....you will need the change of property form to do this and of course another valuation fee, what is your broker on about???

---

Regards

Ian

Hi, thanks for your quick response, Ian, much appreciated. I've read lots of the other posts and your advice is always really helpful.

I don't know if it's our broker or Abbey, but something untoward is going on. I have a suspicion it's to do with the lending criteria tightening but, then again, I'm a bit of a cynic... I feel like we're definitely being given misleading information.

I'm going to ask our broker to ask Abbey tomorrow to do a change of property form... we don't mind paying the val fee, we just don't want to be forced into buying a property we don't want!!!

Could they refuse to do a change of property form if the mortgage product our original application was based on has been pulled?

Hi...Abbey have had new systems installed that the staff are having problems with, the electronic underwriting is over ruling the common sense approach. So long as you keep to within the original loan to value there shouldn't be a problem, if your broker goes through their Abbey area manager it will help the process. I will check with our team tomorrow to see where Abbey stand on this and get back to you.

---

Regards

Ian

Thanks Ian, that's very useful to know... I'll try my best to get our broker onto the area manager tomorrow. Failing that, we might have to try another broker... (?)

As you say, I would've definitely thought that if we keep to the original loan amount, there shouldn't be a problem with changing the property. There's certainly nothing I've read in the mortgage offer or T&C that suggests otherwise... Will keep the post updated with any progress...

Hi....the change of property used to be paper based but now all the broker does is to go back into the electronic application and amend the details, the change is picked up by the underwriters who will then action it. Tell me how you get on??

---

Regards

Ian

Hi Ian,

I can't believe our broker has given us such inaccurate information. She is now backtracking a little, but unfortunately too late for the property we had our eye on. Someone else had also put in an offer and has now had their valuation booked. The vendor had said that whovever had their valuation booked first would have their offer accepted, which is such a shame because as FTBs with our mortgage pre-agreed we should have been in a really strong position. I guess we will have to put this one down to experience!!!

We are going to keep on looking (just got back from another viewing) and will stick to our guns about being able to change the property details and keep the original mortgage offer - which is valid till December. To be honest, Abbey have been a bit twitchy throughout our entire application, which I do understand is because of the current lending situation and their backlog. I just wish they'd be straight with us. We've always liked them, we have our bank account, credit card, and savings with them, but lately we've been having some bad experiences, just like a lot of the other people on this forum. It's good to know we're not alone!!!

Fingers crossed we will find another suitable property at the right price. I am kicking myself about that house. I wish we'd known sooner, then we could've got things moving quicker. Thanks for your advice Ian, I feel empowered to tell the broker what for when we eventually get another offer accepted, though we're seriously considering changing broker now.

WKYP

Hi...sorry about missing out, the joys of buying!!!

You will miss out on the original rate if you change brokers now and submit a new application. What product were you being offered??

---

Regards

Ian

Hi,

Sorry for taking so long to reply - it's been a busy week, with lots of viewings and other stuff... and I managed to forget my login details, tut, tut.

We have now spoken to a couple of other brokers, and, apparently, Abbey are saying to people that they will lose their original offer if they change the property they are buying, which is crazy...

Apparently, this is because they have changed their lending criteria and are no longer offering 95% mortgages.

So we are still in a bit of a pickle. Either we go ahead with our original purchase, which may not be cost-effective for us given the current market and what we know from the val we had done on it, or we forfeit our mortgage offer and have to start shopping for something much cheaper... It's a rock and a hard place.

None of our friends or family have heard of anything like this.

Have you heard of anyone else in this situation?

I am not sure what the name of the mortgage product is, but it's a tracker for 95% of the value...

Hi...just come off the phone to an Abbey underwriter and they are saying that it is still possible to change property details and the offer would still be valid based on the current loan to value if you pass a necessary new credit search. The decision will be based on that and a re-check of data. In summary the decision is made on an individual basis and that is about all they can confirm. Abbey are only offering up to 85% LTV on their current range and if there is no hope of changing the property you will either have to find a larger deposit or find another lender offering higher LTV products, but the rates will higher I'm afraid.

---

Regards

Ian

hmmn, that's very interesting, thanks for checking that out for us...

Hopefully, we might even pass their new credit check, unless they've made it unrealistically strict, as we are in an even better financial position than when we first started because Abbey made us pay off all our credit cards before they would make us the first offer (which was a pain at the time but might be good now), and we've managed to scrape together a little more deposit/savings. We're feeling very unwanted tho.

I might also check the Halifax, as I've heard they are still doing 95% - bit worried about all these credit searches affecting our credit file tho...

In the end, I think it's better for us to lose the first mortgage offer, rather than buying a home that's not financially viable... We're not going to be forced into anything that isn't right for us... Now we've just got to find a suitable property and get the mortgage ball rolling again... So it looks like another weekend of viewings ahead...

Thanks for your help Ian. Hopefully this post and your explanations might help others who are facing this kind of situation. I'll keep the post updated with progress (which at the moment is very slow).

Oh yes, the 'joys' of buying, indeed!!!

Hi,

An update:

We've just put in an offer of 250,000 on another property - and - it was accepted!!!

We've instructed our broker to submit a change of details form, so finger crossed!!! (you too, Ian)!!

We're prepared to lose the rate, but we will need every penny of the original mortgage offer to go ahead. I've got a feeling Abbey are trying to get shot of us, which is a shame because nothing has changed in our circumstances since last month when the original mortgage offer was made. Surely they couldn't be that cruel.

Do have any suggestions about how to present our case to Abbey?

No sleep for us tonight.

Hi...when your broker goes back into the application on the Abbey site they should amend the property details as well as the loan amount. This should state that an extra 1000 deposit will be paid to ensure that the loan amount and the LTV are more acceptable. If the case is declined it wouldn't be the rate that is lost but the LTV will be reduced due to the Abbey no longer offering 95% products, so everything crossed for you and I would also suggest that the brokers Abbey development manager is kept in the loop to ensure that someone is on your side.

---

Regards

Ian

Hi,

A lot has happened since we last spoke, and I thought I would update the blog in case anyone else in my position has begun to feel there's no hope.

As expected, Abbey - after taking another couple of long, drawn-out, anxious weeks - decided to rescind the original mortgage offer. They still haven't sent us anything in writing and I am going to complain about how our situation has been handled because its just been a joke really...

But, on the bright side, we have now got a formal mortgage offer from the Royal Bank of Scotland (we approached them directly) and we have found a lovely house at the right price. Val's booked for next Friday and we could be enjoying a BBQ in the garden in a mere few weeks...!

I think the moral of the story is "Goodbye Abbey" (which of course isn't really Abbey anymore, but Santander trading on Abbey's previous good name) and don't give up.

Thanks for all your help Ian - it lookes like we're going to get there in the end!

Happy End !!!