Mortgage market for unusual properties 'opening up' - 04/01/2008

It can be hard to find a mortgage for an unconventional building, homebuyers have been warned.

Mortgage broker Finance4 has reported that properties such as conversions, buy-to-let and listed buildings can come with additional problems, meaning lenders are reluctant to fund the purchase.

It explained that should a borrower default on payments, an unusual property would be harder for the lender to sell.

According to Steve Collins, director of the firm, lenders who do provide a mortgage on such a property are likely to charge a higher rate of interest.

However, he admitted that as increasing numbers of people seek unusual properties, this trend is changing slowly.

"More lenders are realising that perhaps they shouldn't be so scared, and are dipping their toe in the water. That's a fact; although it's happening very slowly," he said.

Of the 370,000 listed buildings in the UK, 92 per cent are listed as Grade II - "warranting every effort to preserve them", according to English Heritage.

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