Mortgages for ‘unconventional properties’ difficult to get

Borrowers can find it difficult to finance a mortgage for an unconventional property due to uncertainty over its value, claim financial experts.

Lansdown Place said that listed buildings, particularly those made from unusual materials or with a high protection rating, can be difficult to find funds for.

Simon Harris, spokesperson for Lansdown Place, said: “For listed buildings, the various restrictions on what can be done and the covenants that demand what must be done will potentially adversely affect the security in the eyes of a lender.”

He added that the main other issue is durability, which can also potentially apply to eco-friendly homes, an area of “potential growth” in the housing market.

According to English Heritage, there are 370,000 or so listed buildings currently protected in the UK. Of these over 92 per cent are Grade II – the lowest level of listing, for buildings “of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them”.

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