My son keeps being turned down for a mortgage due to lift access in the building

My son and his girlfriend have been declined a mortgage twice, possibly three times, result pending.

The purchase is for an apartment in Southwark, south London valued at £540,000, that is five years old. They are purchasing a 25 per cent share of as first time buyers.

Their credit score is not a problem but they’ve been declined by two major lenders on the same grounds of inadequate lift provision.

Santander hold the existing sellers mortgage but still declined. Nationwide followed suit.

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Barclays are valuing a third application together with the original building plans. But we’re not optimistic.

There are issues involving the impartiality of the building owners, selling agent, mortgage broker, surveyor, all of whom are generating fees leading to the same outcome. What are your thoughts? A.K.

David Hollingworth replies: When applying for a mortgage many borrowers’ primary concern will be whether they will be eligible and qualify for the amount they want to borrow.

But a lender needs to be sure the property is worth what the buyer is paying for it in case something goes wrong at a later date and the property needs to be repossessed to repay the mortgage amount. 

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The lender will require the property to be independently valued, to confirm its worth and to ensure there’s nothing to be concerned about in terms of the construction and condition of the property. 

Lenders will typically prefer property that will be straightforward to sell in the future. 

Therefore, the breadth of appeal that a property will have on the open market is also important.

The more unusual a property, the smaller the market might be and the fewer the number of potential buyers might be. 

That could apply to something like a property above commercial premises, especially something like a takeaway that could affect the ‘saleability’ of the property.

Some lenders place limits on the maximum number of floors in a block and take account of other factors including ex local authority, open deck access. 

Some lenders will prefer to judge each property on its own merits. There’s also likely to be more flexibility on the maximum number of floors in areas where higher rise is more common – London being a prime example.

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However, as your son and partner are finding there may be additional expectation that a property above a certain number of storeys should have a lift. 

This could mean that a property of more than four storeys (ground plus three) would be expected to have a lift. 

Nationwide can take exception to this rule, but its typical expectation would be for a flat in a block above four storeys to have a lift, whether the flat is on a higher floor or not.

Accessibility is obviously important for any property and the higher the number of floors the more that a lack of lift will affect the ability to sell. 

Some lenders will have the ability to consider any property rather than have a rigid limit, but they will rely on the valuers comments and recommendation. Santander and Barclays would both fit into that bracket.

Unfortunately, that means you are dependent on the valuer’s comments and it’s hard to know the likely outcome in advance. 

It sounds like the purchase is from a housing association, so it would be worth discussing with them as well as local surveyors who know the property, as to how this issue was resolved in the past. 

That may help give an idea of lenders that have accepted the property before, although as you’ve discovered it doesn’t guarantee that the surveyor will take the same view as others in the past.

It is therefore possible that the Barclays application will fare differently and be successful. 

There are a lot of different moving parts in the process but it’s in the interest of all, from vendor to agent to adviser to enable the sale.

You could however consider seeking a second opinion if you continue to run into issues. 

If it’s still problematic, it’s also worth considering that options could be limited for buyers in future, if your son and his partner want to sell.