As per my previous post, I am in the process of trying to buy a house but I am having some trouble getting a mortgage. The problem I'm having is that the flat I am buying is in an ex-council building where there are five floors, and Nationwide doesn't give mortgages if you are trying to buy a flat in an ex-council building that has got more than four floors.
I have tried to convince the surveyors that the building has indeed five floors but only four in the part of the building where the flat I want to buy is. Well, because mathematics is now apparently an opinion, the surveyors counted five floors also in the part of the building where my flat is situated. Even though, if you walk up the stairs you can only go up to the fourth floor!
Now, in the last attempt to make the deal, I thought to check with the council exactly how many floors there are in the building and get a paper to prove that. Well, that should be easy, shouldn't it? I mean , Southwark council built the property so they should know how many floors there are... In fact I even have a letter from the council stating that in block 1 there are 3 floors, in block 2 there are 4 floors and so on. The problem with the paperwork I have received from the council is that it's not clear what the word "block" refers to.
I called the council to try to shed some light on the situation.
Although the council has built the building, the only thing the administrator could tell me was that the building was erected in the '60s and that... well that's it really. I asked if it was possible to know how many floors there are in each section of the building and what is the meaning and the location of the "blocks" mentioned in their report. The administrator said he didn't know, the property was built long time ago and there are no more details.
I asked the administrator what should I do to confirm the number of floors in the building and the administrator gave me an advice to get a survey for it... "Yes, I explained, I did get a survey but the surveyor said there are five floors in my part of the building and I need a letter to prove that there are only four floors and that's why I am asking you, the council who erected the building in the first place"
"Oh, I see" he said. Then silence. "Hmm..." Then silence again.
Silence, the only thing the council knows.
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did you employ an independent surveyor? Or is it the guy that the nationwide sent/recommended? And have you asked them to explain explicitly how they came to the conclusion that there were 5 floors. You know, these guys have a lot of power in their hands but I swear they do not appreciate it. They can be very sloppy when doing the survey. They say four instead of five because they don’t look at the plans closely.
I’ve had my flat surveyed that I was selling (The purchaser paying for the survey) and the guy was amazingly laid back. I asked him how much he thought it was worth. He said, ‘it’s hard to say, depends how much someone is willing to pay for it’ it was a fairly accurate statement, but he is the one who has to put a value on it!! I appreciate that he might have been being cagy but he also told me that as far as he was concerned he would be making a positive report back to the buyer.
PS - I also like routemasters. And i am touched that you list the prostars as amongst your favourite things. I've seldome given a better present!
Daddy Damo
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