DISAPPOINTMENT

Bad news, like buses, always seems to come in threes and it looks like the     3.55 pm to Shiteville has stopped outside our door.  Last week’s bad news-bus timetable went something like this:

First bus – Single to Rejection.  This one way ticket takes you to the go to destination for people like me that failed to cross the new job threshold. 

Second bus – Day rider to Homelessness. This ticket is usually purchased by unscrupulous landlords using the pandemic to evict tenants for no good reason and has recently been given to my son who is soon to be taking up residence under Boscombe Pier. 

Third bus – Return to No Sale.  This ticket covers a surprise journey back to the point you started from, a journey which has taken the longest time possible, is a complete waste of money and confirms the unreliability of other passengers on board.

In our game of property poker, the third bus has now dropped us back to Square One as after 8 weeks of conveyancing, our buyers have failed to successfully secure a mortgage.

It’s no fault of theirs and in truth, I feel more than sorry for them as victims of the economic crisis that is leaving a deeper scar in most lives than a touch of Covid.  With the end of the furlough scheme approaching, financial institutions are pulling up the credit drawbridge over mounting fears of mass unemployment and borrower ability to repay back loans.  Mortgage deals are in a continual state of flux, terms changing almost daily with banks/building societies executing more U turns on funding agreements than the Government.   

For first time buyers this truly must be their worst nightmare.  The average loan to value ratio has crept up to almost 15-20%, a hefty chunk of money for any prospective purchaser to find as a deposit on their own.  Credit from the Bank of Mum and Dad won’t wash either it seems as lenders now feel that this does not help borrowers adequately demonstrate their credit repayment capabilities.

So if borrowers are unable to get mortgages, what I can’t understand is how the media can be reporting an upsurge in the housing market?  Who is buying up all these houses and what with, magic beans?

Disappointment, anger, tears, blasphemy; I’ve ridden a rollercoaster of emotions since speaking to our buyer and listening to their latest tale of mortgage offer refusal.  Life sucks!  And no matter how much everyone tries to put a positive spin on things, this year is turning into one of the biggest catalogues of calamity in history.  

But when life knocks you down and believe me it does more times than you would ever think possible, it’s always a case of stiff upper lip and soldier on.  It’s back to the For Sale board for us and fingers crossed that all that tabloid reported pent up housing demand quickly produces a new (minted) buyer for our house.