Thanks NoRegretsCoyote - This is similar to what I heard before, but in our case the work we are talking about is more cosmetic, e.g. the house needs a total new kitchen, flooring etc. which, while costly, probably won’t increase the value of the house by the amount we need to spend.
While the total cost of purchase and works would still “add up” to less than the amount we’ve been approved for a mortgage, the finished house won’t be valued at that amount.
I believe this is different when you are doing significant works, like extensions to add more space, as the value of the house goes up in line with the spend.
We do have a good history with the credit union though, so that is an option to explore too. I will chat to them too.
It boils down to not having enough cash available – we can easily afford repayments (what we are looking for is much less than our rent + monthly savings currently), and we are more than happy to do work room by room when we’re living in a house, but the bigger things will need to be done before that, and we just won’t have the funds.