Mortgage lenders remove floor limit for high rise flats in London and Canary Wharf
High street mortgage lenders are increasingly competing with specialist providers to offer mortgages on high rise flats in London and Canary Wharf.
Each bank and building society has a policy setting the limit on the number of floors a property can have and if the property needs a lift to service the higher levels in blocks.
Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: “If you are not sure if a property is suitable for mortgage purposes, our brokers have access to specialist teams at the lenders who assess properties before applications are submitted. They speak to valuers to find out if the high rise flats are acceptable before mortgages are submitted potentially saving time and money.
“We recently arranged a mortgage for a client buying on the 40th floor in a block in Canary Wharf, our broker contacted the bank to confirm the property was ok before the valuer visited the property to confirm he was happy with it.”
More of the larger lenders are providing a free property valuation if you are purchasing a property to reduce the cost of buying flats and houses. This is typically an online valuation and the valuer does not always visit the property.
If you can get a mortgage for a high rise flat through one of the mainstream lenders, rather than a niche lender, they will probably offer you one of their cheap two or five-year rates.
Here is a list of the lender's high rise flat policies:
|
Mortgage lender |
High rise flat policy |
|
Accord Mortgages (part of the Yorkshire Building Society) |
There is a limit of six floors as standard. Higher quality flats may be considered subject to valuers comments. |
|
Aldermore Bank |
There is no limit if lift over five floors, subject to valuers comments.
|
|
Barclays |
Properties in a high-rise block can only be considered in good quality developments without restrictions on the "mortgageability or saleability". |
|
Coventry for Intermediaries |
Maximum of ten floors and must have lift servicing flats about the fifth floor. |
|
Halifax for Intermediaries |
No specific maximum although each property is assessed individually. |
|
Metro Bank for Intermediaries |
No maximum limit on a block although lift required if block over floor floors. |
|
Nationwide for Intermediaries |
No maximum amount of floors in the block is in Greater London. The policy is different outside of London. |
|
Santander for Intermediaries |
The maximum is typically seven floors but can potentially go over subject to valuers comments. |
|
Virgin Money for Intermediaries |
Flats are acceptable in the block up to 10 stories but must have a lift over the fifth floor. There is no limit on floors in London and Canary Wharf subject to valuers comments. |
Source: Knowledge Bank
Call Trinity Financial on 020 7016 0790 to secure a high rise flat mortgage
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