UKC

Does anyone know how long it usually takes from when a bank or building society agree to the grant of a mortgage to when the funds will be made available?

In reply to mypyrex:

Depends what you mean by "agree" - from the salesman's "agreement" it can take 2-3 weeks for the survey to happen and the underwriter to approve it. Then it's "properly agreed" and from then it's normally quite quick - the mortgage company sends the deed to your solicitor in a few days, and once he's received it back it's another few days.

Everything else in the house buying process is usually slower than the mortgage!

In reply to climbwhenready:

Thanks for that.

In reply to mypyrex:

Unless it is HSBC, in which case you are fcuked.

In reply to mypyrex:

HSBC told us a couple of weeks.

It took 14 weeks.

Incompetent surveyors (instructed by HSBC) and lots of paperwork coming through too late from the bank.

I'm about to raise a complaint with the ombudsman.

Good luck.

In reply to mypyrex:

First Direct were very prompt.

As climwhenready says, the worst delays are not usually the bank unless you are buying some very dilapidated or quirky property.

In reply to Babika: HSBC and first direct are the same bank, interesting different results!

In reply to mypyrex:

We did it in 6 weeks but apparently nothing happened for the first 5 weeks. They knew from the outset that we had a 6 week deadline because the sellers were booked on a 6 month cruise and my bank manager assured us it would be fine.
At the 5 week date I told him I was pulling my business account and suddenly things started happening but it only went through in time because on the second to last day I took the day off and was basically a motorcycle courier ferrying documents between banks and solicitors on both sides of the sale

In reply to mypyrex:

6-8 weeks is about average. However, it can take an astonishing amount of time!

Best of luck!

BB, qualified mortgage adviser (now in recovery)

In reply to mypyrex:

I've heard the same with regards to first direct being very good. I never really hear much positive or negative about hsbc. Which is surprising considering they have around 17m UK customers. I've been with them since I was a teenager but am currently in the process of switching to FD. Hoping to get a mortgage with them in the next 12 months or so.

In reply to ceri:


Interesting indeed. I bank with First Direct, and they were incredibly helpful and quick in sorting out an offset mortgage. (In fact they're really good with everything).

In reply to mypyrex: What d'you mean? Is it a purchase or a remortgage or a further advance?

If the former, then obviously the funds are released at completion. If the latter two then anything from a few days to 6 weeks+ depending on surveyors.

In reply to mypyrex:
I've just sold a house and it took them 11months to release the funding because of all kinds of paper work, well at least that's what they told me.

In reply to ceri:



No they're not! Completely different businesses with different business models, CEO's, customer base, marketing etc. HSBC simply happens to be the parent company in terms of ownership and accounting.

The First Direct model is entirely built around customer service (they've been No 1 for years) so it doesn't surprise me that they beat HSBC and others in terms of speed of mortgage offer and process.