‘Leeds wouldn’t give us the home loan – but stored the fee’
1 reader applied for a home loan with Leeds and paid £569 in costs, only to be denied the home loan, with the developing society retaining the money 
My wife and I made a decision to acquire an investment property in Bury St Edmunds to offer some added earnings to supplement our pension.
We knew from previous knowledge that there was a buoyant lettings marketplace in the town, and that it was common with US Air Force personnel from the neighbouring airbases. The marketing agent presented a rental estimate of £1,one hundred to £1,200 per calendar month which we felt would give us a excellent margin.
Having discovered a ideal house – a brand new house on a tiny advancement shut to the town centre – our independent monetary adviser set about locating a ideal purchase-to-let (BTL) home loan for 75pc of the purchase price.
We settled on a two-year fixed deal, filled in the forms and paid a complete of £569 to the Leeds Building Society upfront, with £199 as the non-refundable application charge and £370 for the survey charge. Time passed and, with the developer chasing us to exchange contracts, it transpired that there was a delay in carrying out the survey. When this sooner or later arrived, after numerous weeks, it appeared that the surveyor’s rental estimate was, at £900pcm, too minimal for the home loan we required.
Apparently the rental estimate needed to be £1,040pcm for the full mortgage loan.
GY, Suffolk
Your adviser appealed unsuccessfully to the society and then discovered another home loan through a acquire-to-let expert whose locally based surveyor assessed the rental possible as £1,200.
You say the surveyor utilized by the developing society had been primarily based more than 70 miles away. You went ahead with the buy and agreed a rental of £1,150 per month.
However, the entire situation remained tainted for you. This was not only since of the tension that the constructing society had induced by aborting the transaction, but also since Leeds had flatly refused to refund the charges you had paid it.
Leeds Developing Society says a lot depends on the quantity of personnel at the airbase and this can trigger a fluctuation in rental worth. Now with the data of the increased rental figure attained the society has, it says, as a gesture of goodwill, refunded the reserving and valuation charges.
These come to £569. You say you are amazed at this consequence.