HOUSE PURCHASE DEPARTMENT:
ADMINISTRATION & POLICY
(continued)
Bank Committee: October 4th 1920
On Minute No 588, the Chairman presented the following Report:
In accordance with Minute No 588 we have had under consideration the reconstitution of the Sub-Committees of the Bank Committee and the revision of the delegation thereto.
The following recommendations are now submitted by us:
(1) That the Publicity Sub-Committee be abolished.
We are of the opinion that the need no longer exists for extensive advertisement and propaganda work, and this Sub-Committee is therefore now unnecessary.
(2) That a House Purchase Sub-Committee be appointed with power to deal with matters relating to the House Purchase Department of the Bank subject to the confirmation of the General Committee, where necessary, such Sub-Committee to meet weekly on Fridays at 11am.
The House Purchase applications have for some time past been dealt with by certain members of the Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee, but we are of opinion that the nature and the amount of the business dealt with necessitates the appointment of a properly constituted Sub-Committee.
(3) That a Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee be appointed with POWER to deal with all matters other than those relating to the House Purchase Department of the Bank, subject to the confirmation of the General Committee, where necessary, such Sub-Committee to meet on the last Monday in each month at 11am.
(4) That the Bank Committee meet on the first Monday in the month at 11am instead of 12 noon as heretofore.
598 RESOLVED:- That consideration
of the Report be deferred until the November meeting.
The following letter from Messrs Duggan and Elton was submitted:
Newton Chambers,
43 Cannon Street,
Birmingham.
12th August 1920.
Dear Mr Wiltshire,
re Bank Mortgages.
I should like to submit for your consideration the desirability of, as a matter of practice, permitting the Solicitors to the Mortgagor to have a print of your Mortgage Deed with each transaction on similar lines to that adopted by various Building Societies. For instance, in dealing with the Incorporated Building Society, we should in the Mortgage of course, follow their form, but they would supply us with a copy (price 6d) and this copy of course forms the copy Draft to place with our own papers. I have carefully considered the whole matter, and I cannot see any substantial objection to this course, whilst it would undoubtedly be to practitioners a great convenience. We are all, of course, very pressed with work, and anything which tends to save time is an advantage. I shall, therefore, be greatly obliged if you will give this suggestion your kind consideration.
And remain,
Yours faithfully,
(sd) T Foster Duggan.
602 RESOLVED:- That the Town Clerk be authorised to supply on request a blank copy Mortgage to any practitioner at a charge of 6d per print.
Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee: October 4th 1920
House Purchase - Advances on post-War Houses.
With reference to your Committee's Minute No 583, this question has been further considered by your Sub-Committee and Tables (copies herewith) have been prepared showing the annual payments in principal and interest in respect of advances of £810 and £600 repayable in 10, 15 and 20 years.
In view of the uncertainty as to the depreciation of the value of these properties during the next few years, the Sub-Committee feel that the period of repayment should not exceed 10 years and that the amount of advance to be made should be calculated on a somewhat different basis to that in practice with regard to pre-war houses, ie on a pre-war valuation plus a percentage.
They therefore now recommend that advances on post-war houses should be granted in approved cases up to a limit of 50% on the ascertained actual cost of building or buying such property, provided that no advance shall exceed the present maximum of £800, and that the repayment be made within a period of ten years.
They also recommend that those provisions should apply to all such houses as are constructed in accordance with the certificates of the Ministry of Health and the Corporation.
In this connection Mr A L Horsburgh, Architect, of the Ministry of Health, attended before your Sub-Committee on Friday last, and submitted model and particulars of a house to be partially built of concrete, in respect of which he desired an advance. The approval of the Ministry of Health and the Corporation had been received to the plans, and the building was in course of construction. Mr Horsburgh has been asked to attend the meeting today and lay his model before your Committee.
610 RESOLVED:- That advances for the purchase of post-war houses be granted in approved cases up to a limit of 50 per cent on the ascertained actual cost of building or buying such property, provided that no advance shall exceed the present maximum of £800, and that the repayment be made within a period of ten years.
Bank Committee: October 25th 1920
The Town Clerk reported as follows:
Discharges - House Purchase Mortgages.
In view of the increasing numbers of these Mortgages which are being paid off, I should be glad if the Committee would pass a general resolution authorising me from time to time to affix the Corporate Seal to the necessary Vacating Receipts discharging such Mortgages on settlement of the Mortgagor's liability to the Bank. This will obviate the necessary of obtaining the Committee's instructions to seal in individual cases.
635 RESOLVED:- That the Town Clerk be and he is hereby authorised to affix the Corporate Seal from time to time to the necessary Vacating Receipts discharging House Purchase Mortgages on settlement of the Mortgagor's liability to the Bank.
House Purchase "B" Sub-Committee: February 21st 1921
Your Sub-Committee have, since their last Report, held 3 Meetings, and have had before them 35 applications, including 4 adjourned cases. Advances were authorised in 29 cases, 1 application was adjourned for further enquiries to be made, 3 not acceded to and in 2 instances the applications have been withdrawn.
Failure to make Repayments:
Mr Lear, a Mortgagor to the Bank in respect of 66-68 Stanmore Road, Edgbaston is now serving a term of imprisonment for embezzlement, and no repayments have been made for over 3 months. Efforts have been made by Mr Lear's representatives to sell the property, but without success. Lloyds Bank have intimated that they hold a second Mortgage on the property and ask to be notified before any disposal of the property by the Bank takes place.
Your Sub-Committee recommend that the Town Clerk be instructed to prepare and seal a Deed of Appointment of Mr Frank Wilde as Receiver on behalf of the Bank. In the meantime Mr Wilde has been authorised to give notice to the tenants that the Bank propose to collect the rents.
Suspension of Repayments.
Your Sub-Committee report that Mr A H Kirk, to whom permission was granted to suspend his repayments for 2 months, has recommenced such repayments, which are now up to date.
Applications for permission to sell.
Your Sub-Committee had before them at their last Meeting 4 applications for permission to sell properties mortgaged to the Bank. In each case the prospective purchaser had applied to the Bank for an advance on the property concerned.
Your Sub-Committee were of opinion that under these circumstances a suggested sum of £3. 3. 0. should be paid to the Bank for their charges, and they have directed that consideration of the applications for fresh advances above referred to should be subject to the payment of such charges
Bank Committee: March 21st 1921
The following report of the House Purchase "A" Sub-Committee was presented:
Advances on Post war Houses.
With reference to the ruling of your Committee limiting the period of repayment in the case of post-war houses to ten years, your Sub-Committee have in mind a recent case in which an advance of £200 for twenty years on a post war house was desired, the purchase price in this instance being £800.
Your Sub-Committee considered that in a case of this description a longer period of repayment might safely be allowed, and they therefore recommend that the House Purchase Sub-Committee should be empowered to authorise an advance on a post-war house up to the limit of twenty years in cases where they are satisfied that the advance required is so small in comparison with the security as to leave no doubt as to the safety of such extension.
773 RESOLVED:- That the House Purchase Sub-Committee be empowered to extend the period of repayment for advances on post-war houses up to the limit of 20 years in future cases where it is ascertained that the value of security is so much in excess of the amount of the advance required as to adequately safeguard the Bank against future depreciation in value; in all other respects the instructions contained in Minute No 610 to remain in operation.
Bank Committee: April 18th 1921
792 The following report of the Joint Meeting of the House Purchase "A" and "B" Sub-Committees was presented:
In accordance with your Committee's Minute No 746, a joint Meeting of the two House Purchase Sub-Committees was held on Monday last April 11th 1921 when various points were considered on which a definite policy was necessary.
Sale of Mortgaged property.
Under the Rules it is competent for a Mortgagor to sell his property subject to the Mortgage on the Committee's consent being obtained. In this connection applications are becoming numerous and cases have arisen where the sale of the property and the transfer of mortgage have taken place a few months only after the completion of the original Mortgage.
In many cases also the Mortgages have been paid off within a very short period.
Your Sub-Committee in order to safeguard the Bank's interests in the matter and to secure adequate reimbursement for the additional work involved recommend that in cases where a mortgaged property is sold within a period of 12 months from the completion of the Mortgage or the original Mortgage is discharged within a like period, the Bank charges should be paid by the Mortgagor and also a fee in respect of legal costs in accordance with the following scale:
- Not exceeding £500 - £3. 3. 0.
- " " £750 - £4. 4. 0.
- Exceeding £1000 - £5. 5. 0.
Depositors as Purchasers.
Consideration has been given to the question of the deposit account of a Mortgagor to the Bank.
Your Sub-Committee are advised that under the Rules and Regulations the borrower is required to remain a depositor until the Mortgage is discharged.
They have directed that a note of this requirement be incorporated in the Mortgage Deed.
Advances on two or more houses.
Your Sub-Committee have considered the desirability of making advances on two or more houses. They realise that unavoidable circumstances sometimes arise whereby it is necessary for an applicant to acquire two houses in order to obtain possession of the one required and they see no reason to depart from their present practice of considering such cases on their merits.
Fees for copy valuation and inspection of Deeds.
Your Sub-Committee recommend that the Manager be authorised to charge if considered desirable a fee of 10/6d. in respect of supplying copy of a valuation and a similar fee for the inspection of Deeds.
Short Lease Properties.
They are of opinion that the period of advances on leasehold property having less than 50 years to run should be limited to 10 years any special cases to be considered by your Committee.
Additional Security.
Your Sub-Committee have considered the question of additional security and are of opinion that the property in respect of which an advance is granted must be adequate security in itself.
Shops and Dwellinghouses.
Your Sub-Committee are advised that the Bank have no power to make advances in respect of shops, and in the case of combined shops and dwellinghouses therefore they recommend that the valuer be instructed to indicate the value of the property as a dwelling.
Sewers and uncompleted Roads.
They have given instructions with regard to new houses that the valuer should be directed to include in his report a statement as to the liability attached to the property in respect of unsewered and unpaved roads.
Post-war Houses - Repayment period.
With reference to Minute No 773 of your Committee empowering the House Purchase Sub-Committee to extend the period of repayment for advances on post-war houses up to the limit of 20 years in certain cases, your Sub-Committee are of opinion that in order to work equitably it would be desirable for this instruction to operate on the basis indicated by the following example:
- In the case of a post-war house costing £1200:
Advance to be limited to £600 for a period of 10 years
" " " " £400 " " " 15 "
" " " " £200 " " " 20 "
The paragraph as to scale of fees in regard to the sale of mortgaged property was amended by the substitution of the words "Exceeding £750" for "Mortgage under £1000", and in relation to the last paragraph (post-war houses, Repayment period) the figure of "£200" mentioned in the last line was altered to "£300".
793 RESOLVED:- That in cases where property mortgaged to the Bank is sold within a period of 12 months from the completion of the Mortgage or the original Mortgage is discharged within a like period, the Bank charges to be paid by the Mortgagor, and also a fee in respect of legal costs in accordance with the following scale:
- Not exceeding £500 - £3. 3. 0.
- " " £750 - £4. 4. 0.
- Exceeding £750 - £5. 5. 0.
794 RESOLVED:- That the Manager be authorised to charge, if he considers desirable, a fee of 10/6d. in respect of the supply of a copy valuation and a similar fee for the inspection of Deeds.
795 RESOLVED:- That the period of advances on leasehold property having less than 50 years to run to be limited to 10 years, any special cases to be considered by this Committee.
796 RESOLVED:- That the valuer be instructed to indicate in the cases of combined shops and dwellinghouses, the value of the property as a dwelling.
797 RESOLVED:- That the instruction contained in Minute No 773 as to the extension of the repayment period on post-war houses in certain cases be operated on the basis indicated by the following example:
- In the case of a post-war house costing £1200:
Advance to be limited to £600 for a period of 10 years
" " " " £400 " " " 15 "
" " " " £300 " " " 20 "
797 RESOLVED:- That the Report of the Joint House Purchase Sub-Committee as amended be approved.