As this is a report for mortgage valuation purposes it should not be relied upon to tell you what you need to know about the condition of a property, and you are strongly advised to arrange for a more detailed inspection of the property for your own protection. You will be given the opportunity on the mortgage application form to request the Society's valuer to contact you to explain the different types of report available and their costs.

Administration fee

An administration fee is payable on some applications to offset the costs incurred by us in processing your mortgage application. The amount of the administration fee is specified with the details of particular mortgage products. If your mortgage application does not proceed, we are not able to refund the administration fee if it has already been spent in processing your application.

Booking fee

A booking fee is payable on some particular products, e.g. fixed and capped rates, to offset the costs to us of arranging funds. This is payable at the time of application. If your mortgage application does not proceed, we may not be able to refund the booking fee if it has already been spent in arranging the fixed rate or cap, or processing your application.

Solicitors mortgage charges

As well as the conveyancing costs if you are buying a property, you are responsible for all legal costs associated with setting up the mortgage. If the solicitor you choose is on our panel, we can usually instruct the same solicitor so they can act for us at the same time as for you, and this will save you money. Some solicitors will quote a fee in advance, whilst others may charge a standard fee, although they have to charge more if the case is particularly complex. They will also add to their bill any other expenses such as stamp duty, land registry charge, and Local Authority search fees.

If you are remortgaging with certain products, we can instruct our in-house Legal Team to carry out the remortgage work for the Society at no cost to you (excludes CHAPS fees), but they will not be able to carry out additional work such as transfer of the property from single to joint names or vice versa. As they will be acting for the Society and not on your behalf, if you wish to take your own legal advice you will have to instruct your own solicitor at your own expense.

CHAPS bank transfer fee

When your mortgage is due to ‘complete’ your solicitor will ask us to release the funds through the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS). The banks make a charge for this service, and a fee of £35 will be deducted from the amount transferred to your solicitor.

Higher Lending Charge

If you borrow more than 75% loan to value, a Higher Lending Charge may be payable. This covers the cost of an insurance policy we will take out to protect us from the risks of lending a high percentage of the value of the property.

If your property is repossessed by us in the future and is sold for less than the amount you owe us, the insurance policy allows us to recover the shortfall from the insurer. You will still have to pay all the sums due under the mortgage, including arrears, interest and our legal fees, and so the insurance policy does not protect you.

The insurer will be able to reclaim from you any money it pays us under the insurance policy. The cost of the insurance policy is paid by the Society for loans between 75.01% and 90.0% of the property value. For Loans between 90.01% and 95.0% of the property value, the cost must be paid by you to the Society's approved insurer. This sum will be deducted from the cheque for the advance.