Can't get a mortgage on it? We buy unmortgageable houses fast — as they stand.
Lenders refuse it, buyers walk away, and the repair quote is more than you want to spend. We don't need a mortgage, so the problem doesn't stop the sale. One cash offer for the house exactly as it is — anywhere in England.
Fix, then sell via an agent
As it stands, to us
Most buyers need a lender's yes. Lenders have a long list of reasons to say no.
A mortgage lender lends against the house, so it wants a property that is sound, insurable and easy to resell. If a valuer or surveyor flags a problem, the lender can refuse outright, cut the loan or demand costly work first, and the buyer's sale falls over. Roughly nine in ten buyers need a mortgage, so a house lenders won't touch loses almost all of its market. A cash buyer isn't borrowing, so none of those lists apply.
Non-standard construction
Concrete panels, steel frames, no-fines concrete and timber-frame systems from the post-war housing boom. Many lenders refuse them or ask for a repair warranty that costs thousands and isn't always available.
Structural movement or subsidence
Cracking, historic movement or a past insurance claim. Even a repaired, stable house can be refused, and lenders often want an engineer's report and a clean period with no further movement.
Short lease or awkward title
A leasehold flat under about 70 years, a doubling ground rent, a missing freeholder or a restriction on the title. Each one gives a lender a reason to say no regardless of the flat's condition.
Defects a surveyor can't ignore
Japanese knotweed, flammable cladding, no kitchen or bathroom, a collapsing roof, mining or serious flood risk. Lenders want these resolved and certified before they'll lend a penny.
We take the house as it is. You don't repair, certify or reassure anyone.
Selling an unmortgageable house to us is a normal sale of the house, problem included. Here's what happens to each piece, so you know exactly what you're agreeing to before we make an offer.
The defect
Stays exactly as it is. We don't ask you to repair it, treat it or certify it before we buy. The cost of putting it right is priced into our offer, not billed to you.
The survey and reports
We arrange our own inspection and pay for it. You don't need to commission a structural report, a knotweed management plan or an engineer's letter first, though any you already have help.
The mortgage refusal
Irrelevant to us. We're not borrowing against the house, so a lender's decline, valuation reduction or retention changes nothing about whether we can buy.
The repairs
Ours to deal with after completion. We carry the cost, the work and the risk, which is why our figure is below the mortgageable value.
Your existing mortgage
If there's one on the house, it's repaid from the proceeds at completion. Send us your lender's redemption figure and we'll check the offer covers it before you decide anything.
The paperwork
Any survey, valuation, refusal letter, insurance claim, warranty or guarantee you've already got. If a piece is missing we'll tell you whether it matters before we offer.
From first message to completion, without fixing a thing
The same four steps we use for every purchase, with an inspection in place of a long wait.
Tell us about the house and the problem
Postcode, type, what lenders said and any reports you have. The form takes a minute; WhatsApp works too.
Get a firm cash offer
We assess the house, the problem and the likely cost of putting it right, and come back with a figure you can rely on — usually within the hour. No obligation.
We inspect and instruct
We arrange a quick inspection and instruct and pay for solicitors on both sides. You send whatever paperwork you have; we chase the rest.
Complete
Any mortgage repaid, the money lands on a date that suits you. Typically 14 days from acceptance.
What helps us make an offer
- The address and a few photos of the problem
- What the lender or valuer said, and when
- Any survey, structural or engineer's report
- Past insurance claims or underpinning records
- Warranties, guarantees or certificates, if any exist
- Your own repair quotes, if you've had them
- Your lender and redemption figure, if you have a mortgage
- The date you'd like to complete by
Fix first vs. sell as it stands: a typical non-standard semi
Take a 3-bed ex-council semi of non-standard concrete construction, worth £140,000 if lenders would lend on it, with about £15,000 of work and certification needed to change that — the kind of house we're asked about every week in Carlisle, Workington and Grimsby. A buyer's lender declined it after the valuation.
| 3-bed non-standard semi | Fix first, then sell | Sell as it stands to us |
|---|---|---|
| Time before it can be marketed | 3–4 months: engineer's report, repairs, certification — longer if more is found | None — offer the day you ask |
| Sale price | £133,000 (95% of the fixed value, after a survey chip) | £100,000 cash offer (fixed) |
| Cost of the fix | −£15,000 (estimated; can come in higher) | £0 |
| Agent, conveyancing & EPC | −£5,660 | £0 — we pay both sides' solicitors |
| Mortgage, council tax & insurance while waiting | −£3,600 (about 6 months) | −£150 (14 days) |
| Will lenders lend afterwards? | Not guaranteed — some still refuse a repaired house | Doesn't matter — no lender |
| Chance it falls through | Roughly 1 in 4 once it's on the market | None — no chain, no lender |
| Time to money | 8–12 months, if it completes first time | About 14 days |
| Net in your pocket | ≈ £108,740 | ≈ £99,850 |
Worked example, not a valuation. Fixing first and selling through an agent can leave you with more — here by roughly £8,900 — if the fix is cheap, certain and fully restores mortgageability. It also means spending money before you meet a buyer, waiting most of a year, and accepting that a repaired house can still be refused. If the work is costly, uncertain or you can't wait, selling as it stands buys you a date and a certain number. Your own figures are in the comparator at the top of the page.
The places where unmortgageable houses are most of what we see
Post-war estates, converted flats, old mining and flood-prone ground — the causes vary by town. Each page below has the local detail: what a house there is worth and what puts lenders off.
Somewhere else? We buy unmortgageable houses anywhere in England. Start from the county: Cumbria · Lincolnshire · or just send the postcode.
Selling an unmortgageable house: what lenders look at and what to do about it
If you're searching for how to sell an unmortgageable house, or what to do when a buyer's mortgage was refused on your property, the first thing to know is that “unmortgageable” isn't a legal status. It means mainstream lenders have decided the house is too risky to lend against, for reasons that vary by lender. A house one lender refuses another may accept, and a house refused today may be fine after the right report. That's why the first step is finding out exactly what the lender objected to.
Find the specific reason
Ask the buyer's solicitor or broker for the lender's actual reason, not a summary. “Non-standard construction”, “evidence of movement”, “lease length” and “Japanese knotweed within 7 metres” are different problems with different fixes. Some can be solved with a report or a guarantee. Others are permanent features of the house. Knowing which you have tells you whether fixing is worth pricing.
What can sometimes be fixed
Some non-standard houses can be made lendable with a repair scheme or a structural warranty. Knotweed usually needs a professional management plan with an insurance-backed guarantee. Missing kitchens and bathrooms can be fitted. A short lease can be extended. Cladding problems may need remediation and a fire-safety certificate. Each takes money and months, and none guarantees a lender will say yes afterwards, so get quotes and ask a mortgage broker before you spend anything.
Why lenders make it hard and cash makes it easy
A mortgage lender is lending against the house for 25 years and needs to be sure it could resell it if the buyer defaulted. A cash buyer for an unmortgageable house isn't borrowing against it, so none of that applies: we can take non-standard construction, a repaired subsidence claim, a bare-shell interior or a short lease, and still complete in a fortnight.
What it's worth
Honestly: less than the same house would fetch if it were mortgageable. We're buying a house with a problem, and taking on the cost, the time and the risk of putting it right. Our offers on unmortgageable houses usually land at around 65–80% of the mortgageable value, depending on the problem, with every fee paid by us. Against that, fixing first costs money up front, takes many months, and still leaves a one-in-four chance the buyer's lender backs out — which is why the net figures in the comparator at the top of this page are closer than the headline percentages suggest. If you'd like to see the same maths for your own house, ask for a figure; it takes a minute and costs nothing.
What about auction?
Auction is the route many sellers think of next, because auction buyers are mostly cash buyers and don't care about mortgageability. It can work for the right property, but it means waiting for the next catalogue date, paying entry and seller's fees, taking a reserve-price risk and a 28-day completion. If you'd rather have a certain date and a number without a gamble, a direct cash offer is worth comparing.
If the problem is bigger than the house
A house can come with other things attached: a boundary dispute, a Japanese knotweed claim from a neighbour, an unfinished extension with no building regulations sign-off, an unregistered title. They can make a house very hard to sell on the open market, and we buy those too. The figure reflects it, and we take on the work. Tell us what's going on when you ask for the offer; it changes what we pay, not whether we buy.