My son has a detached garage at the edge of his garden and his neighbour has offered to buy it from him. My son would really like to take up this offer, but his mortgage lender is refusing to agree to the deal. Is there anything he can do?
The lender has a financial interest that has been secured against your son's property. This means the lender has as much interest in the property as your son and has some authority over what happens. Before he could agree to sell the garage your son would certainly need consent from the lender for the release of the garage from the registered mortgage.
To work out whether the sale of the garage will affect the security the lender has against the property, they will take into consideration the value of the loan ratio to the value of the land minus the garage, and its resale value with or without the garage. This is also something your son should seriously consider. In selling the garage to his neighbour your son will receive a lump sum, but the sale may detract so seriously from the value of his property that when he sells in the future he may face significant loss. The lender may have considered this already and this is probably the reason the lender is refusing to agree.
Your son can of course simply change lenders by redeeming his current mortgage and taking out a new mortgage that does not include the garage in the security. I think your son should be seriously considering whether it is the right thing to sell the garage now, as it will substantially affect the saleability of his property in the future.
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