We are in a long process of renovating a very old house here.

A year ago my husband started working for himself and we have a pretty small mortgage on the house.

We have had some problems with damp at the back of the house which recently have got very bad so approached the bank with a view to borrowing some more money to knock down and rebuild the part that is not repairable.

I told the bank that in its current state the house is worth very little. Yet with the building work completed it would be worth 3 times as much and we were also planning on buiding a second floor, subject to planning permission of course.

But, the bank said that even though my husbands wages and accounts are fine, we have to wait for some time and get more years accounts behind us before the bank will lend us more money to have the work done.

So, does anybody know if there are any rules regarding how many years accounts one needs to borrow more money from the bank? I have been told by some people that it is usually 3 years and from others 5 years?

Unfortunately, Dutch bankers seem to be the most risk averse bunch of crash-helmet wearers I've ever come across. They employ 'risk managers' who wouldn't even dare go outside without an umbrella for fear that a pigeon might shit on their heads.

It is indeed usually 3 years of accounts, but there are lenders who'll give you a mortgage, although you might have to pay a higher rate. Some lenders will take into account you salary earnings before you started a business, and average out your earnings over the last 3 years.

You'll need an independent financial advisor; you might have to speak with a few different advisors before you find one that can help though. Maybe you should try one of the advisors that advertises on expatica.

I had considered speaking to a financial advisor. I think it may be the best avenue to take.

Cheers

I'm with the Rabobank. They were interested in my previous three years accounts, but I had been working for myself for some time longer. They were also a bit concerned that 40% of my work came from one client (who I hardly do any work for now).

I also have to pay the gross mortgage and don't get the net difference back - it's settled with my annual taxes the following year.

It's just one expierence, but a friend had the same problem (started his own company for 6 months) and he got lucky with the SNS bank.

I also give the vote to SNS. But deal with the mortgage office rather than the local branch. The branch should know the person to contact.

We went to financial advisors, etc. All gave us problems. SNS just said ok. Then said, if you need a new kitchen later, just give me a call and it will be ok.

snf

Thanks for the advice everyone.
We chatted to a financial advisor and mentioned SNS to him yesterday.
I'm now leaving this with him and hope he comes up with something.

My advice would be to go direct to the SNS mortgage office.

The financial advisor is not needed for that.

snf

Thanks, I may just do that <img src="../images/emoticons/ysmile.gif">