High street mortgage lenders ‘turn away’ 1.5 million properties
Summary
New research cited by specialist lender Together suggests that more than 1.5 million UK properties are considered too risky for standard high street mortgage lending, affecting around 6% of homes. The article highlights that automated lending criteria can exclude properties such as thatched cottages, high-rise flats, and homes with issues like inadequate kitchens or bathrooms, even though many buyers still proceed for renovation, value-add or buy-to-let reasons.
Why it matters
For residential property surveyors, this underlines the importance of identifying features or defects that may affect mortgageability and advising clients accordingly. It also points to a continuing gap between physical condition, lender criteria and marketability, which can influence valuation, saleability and transaction risk.
Key points
- More than 1.5 million properties are described as unmortgageable by mainstream lenders.
- Properties near commercial premises, thatched cottages and some high-rise apartments may be excluded by automated lending checks.
- 21% of buyers in the research had a mortgage application rejected.
- Many purchasers still target these homes for renovation, value-add or buy-to-let investment.
- The issue is presented as part of a wider supply and finance problem in the housing market.
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