We have found a very small mill for sale that ticks all our requirements for living in (have lived in commercial/industrial buildings before so know the pro’s and cons).

Trouble is we are struggling to get a mortgage as its classed as commercial not residential. Planning permission change of use would not be a problem.

With the sale of our house and its equity we would need £110,00. Have spoke with a few mortgage advisors/brokers but aren’t getting anywhere.

Bridging loans are not an option (way too expensive).

Any ideas? anyone work for a mortgage advisors that deal with this sort of thing?

Get down the docks of an evening? Start a pyramid scheme? Win the lottery or check for change down the back of Flashy’s sofa.

Scratch cards? Start dealing drugs? Rob a bank?

Sell shares in a sawmill on STW?

http://www.buildstore.co.uk/finance/

If you were to get it changed to residential would you have more luck with the mortgage? I have a mate who got an agreement with the vendors whilst the application went through and any ammendments were made.

For a commercial property, you will need a commercial mortgage.

Then when change of use goes through, you can change it to a standard residential mortgage.

Won’t be cheap though I wouldn’t think. Set up costs x2 + early repayment costs etc.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/business-finance/commercial-mortgages/

A little more usefully, you need a specialist broker. They’re not cheap, but they give you access to funding sources you cant get by walking in off the street. I’ve PM’d you a name and Co. I’ve used in the past.

Like most brokerage you feel like you’re paying for old rope. But you’re really paying for the intro to a source of capital that will work for you and you wouldnt otherwise be able to access. Generally no fee payable unless the loan is completed.

am gonna push the vending machines over at work and have a rummage underneath and empty the washing machine filter.

How do I raise £109,999.79?

The trouble with the commercial mortgage is needing the business plan and also the building has £5k business rates per year

am gonna push the vending machines over at work and have a rummage underneath

Never mind rummaging, you get underneath one as it falls, bound to be worth more in compo payout.

Paypal gift?

Why not get the seller to give consent to you applying for a change of use AND make the purchase subject to the change being granted AND make the mortgage a residential one subject to the change being granted?

Have you asked your lawyer or conveyancer about this?

Why not get the seller to give consent to you applying for a change of use AND make the purchase subject to the change being granted AND make the mortgage a residential one subject to the change being granted?

Have you asked your lawyer or conveyancer about this?

this is the route we’ve tried going down but the mortgage advisor who supposedly has experience in this field has been a bit useless and has failed to find a residential mortgage company that would lend.
Stoner pm’d me a link to a company I’d previously googled but I thought they were a bit high end for us but i’m going to give them a call tomorrow.

Is the seller in a hurry? You could get the change of use through so it’s residential and then sort the mortgage out when it would be much more straightforward.

I work in this game and will give it you straight although you seem to have sorted most of it yourself:-

You will not get a residential mortgage on a property that doesn’t have the right planning permission and comply with regs. What you need is non residential lending, the terminology differs between lenders but essentially it’s the same sort of thing i.e. it’s a loan structured against a business or investment of some sort as opposed to lending based on your salary and the house you own or intend to own.

The most common sort is buy to let but you need residential planning etc same as a standard mortgage + you have no tenant and no income so that is a dead end.

You need a business loan from a high street bank or a specialist lender. A high street Bank might be happy to look at the proposal and run it through their tick box type assessment, they will want to know your track record as a property developer and they will want to be comfortable you have the skill / knowledge / experience / finance to see it through. They want to lend to the professionals not the part timers and there is a good chance you will fall short. A specialist lender will take a more subjective view and listen to your argument but will charge you significantly more for the privilege.

An alternative is to secure an option on the property – typically a 12 month contract giving you an option to buy that also allows you the ability to progress planning permission and to secure change of use etc, doing work is typically not permitted but you would need to discuss with the vendor. This will get you so far down the road but you still need to complete the purchase at some point so the finance risk will remain and an option will cost a lot in upfront legal fees.

The other barrier you have is the low value, most lenders have a base minimum and you will be to small for a big chunk of the lenders out there. When I worked in a lending role doing this sort of thing my minimum debt was £250k and the target was £1m to £10m lends!

I appreciate that might not be helpful but that is how it is.

You could agree contractual terms whereby you fund the vendors application to vary the planning permission including appropriate remedies in case either party rescind on the agreement.

Essentially you commit to paying for the change and buying the place once it’s obtained (within appropriate timescales), and they commit to selling it to you. If they pull out, or fail to obtain planning you get your costs back from the planning application and if you pull out you agree to make good their planning status. You probably want to be certain it’s what you think it is first, which may require you to undertake surveys prior to obtaining the mortgage which may require them to be done again at your expense. It’s also not the standard boilerplate that solicitors work on so don’t expect it to be cheap.

Thanks for the info above, we’re talking with Buildstore – watch this space!

There is apparently a shortage of sperm donors

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34113080

Just a thought

Did anyone hear Jeremy Vine speaking with the women who oversee the UK sperm bank and the one in Denmark ( I think) ?
The lady from the Danish operations said that, she wondered if the idea of using pornographic literature, at the clinic, might be too much for people in the UK to handle.

Mr.Vine suggested to the woman at the UK sperm bank, that , if they were to pay more than £30 to UK donors, that they might be ” flooded”.

A serious subject for some, I know, but best Thursday lunchtime stuck in the car giggle I’ve had in ages.

Try the ecology building society

re business rates, a friend got the business rates refunded back to date of application to change to domestic, so although you may have to pay them you should get them back eventually, good luck with the finance!