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Q&As
Can I Get a Self Build Mortgage if I Build Off-Grid?
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I am helping a friend design and build his house.
He has had an extortionate, very prohibitive, quote for getting his mains electrical connection and so it is not going to be an option.
Everything else about the build and my friend's situation is relatively standard. There are no other anomalies, affordability problems or other issues to consider.
If he decided to build the house off the grid and power it using solar panels, batteries and a generator (a tried and tested method in America, Europe and the rest of the world) will his home be mortgageable?
Will he be able to get finance / a mortgage for a scheme like this? Assuming everything else in the project is totally OK.
If anyone has any experience of this, or if self build mortgage specialists themselves could respond I would greatly appreciate it.
Many thanks
Michael
One Answer
Unfortunately there isn’t a straight forward answer to this.
It would definitely be a no for a lot of lenders, due the the slightly unconventional nature.
But I do also know that there are some lenders in self build space who would consider this.
At this stage it would be difficult to say who would and who wouldn’t as a proposal would need to be put to them covering all details of the applicants and security (the property).
In my experience the lender would look to restrict the final loan to value from their normal limits to perhaps say 40-50% and would expect all other aspects to within their normal policy.
It is worth speaking to an experienced advisor who can gain much more detail and put a full proposal through to a panel of lenders.
Rachel Pyne, Build It expert & director of financial services at BuildStore