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Hi all. I am due to exchange on a property shortly. Me and my SO got our mortgage offer just after returning to work from Furlough after the first national lockdown. Our jobs are totally safe but we risk being furloughed again if this lockdown is extended. We requested to complete before the end of this month incase we are furloughed next month as our mortgage lender will withdraw their offer if we're furloughed. We've now been told that we cant complete till the start of next month and they want to us to exchange at the end of this month. I am scared to exchange contracts then find out that lockdown is extended and not be able to complete, running the risk of losing our deposit which would be devastating. I want to do a simultaneous exchange and comple to protect out deposit but the solicitors have said we can't despite the vendor not being in a chain. Can we tell our solicitor that we won't exchange contracts until the mortage funds have been released to them? I'm assuming this would work if there was only a few days between exchange and completion? Will this protect our deposit? Tia

Hi All,I'm just after a bit of advice really. My partner and I had reserved a new build prior to COVID using the HTB scheme and had a mortgage offer ready to go for exchange but the pandemic struck. The build was then stopped and completion window moved from initially Aug-Sep 20 to Jan-Feb 21. Unfortunately my partner has been furloughed and this mortgage offer has since expired. We therefore haven't exchanged and will be unable to do so without a mortgage offer. We are trying to arrange for another mortgage offer but despite being way under the possible affordability threshold of our mortgage (even taking into account my partner's furlough salary) our lender is insisting on a letter from their company to explicitly state that they will be returning to work after the furlough scheme ends in October. Apparently they are viewing the furlough scheme as a 'temporary employment' and therefore need evidence of that they will be bringing people back to work when the scheme finishes. The company is in events which has been very badly hit by the virus and have given very little indication as to whether they will bring back staff in October or start making redundancies. Apparently even if we were to reapply with another lender, they would also require this letter of confirmation. This is despite one salary able to cover the mortgage payments and even the possibility of putting down more than a 5% deposit. I am doubtful that my partner will be able to get this letter because the company doesn't appear to have made many decisions r.e. their staff and the furlough scheme as of yet and therefore without this we are currently unable to get a mortgage offer. Without this we are unable to exchange contracts. So the new build we have been waiting for over a year to be ready and which was delayed because of the virus, is now apparently in danger of falling through completely? Are there any lenders who are offering mortgages without requirement for this return to work letter?I wondered if anyone might be in a similar position and had any advice on how to proceed? Thanks for your help!

Hello looking for some advice. I have a flat in London rented to a couple. The tenant contacted me today regarding his partner being made redundant and asked if there was something that I could do on rent. I don’t have a mortgage on the property. I wanted to ask what people are doing in this situation ? The current rent is 1700pcm. I was contemplating offering them a ‘rent holiday’ so that they pay 14000pcm instead for 3 months. Once the tenants partner finds another role it can return to the 1700pcm. They would then have 6 months to top up the rental payments to make up the £900 they missed. I’m not sure if this is going to help enough and what other landlords are offering! Bit lost here so any other ideas are very welcome. Thanks very much!

Hello, I'm currently selling house and the completion was set to this week. The Buyers solicitor requested the money from lender, but the lender declined mortgage application because buyer has just been furloughed. Is there any lender who still gives mortgage to furloughed people? Should I wait until buyer is put back onto full time? Thanks,