My cousin is buying her house from the council - it is the Dublin South area and the market value of it is 410,000. The council are selling the house to her for 285,000 which includes her discount. She has a loan with the credit union for 20K and was looking to add this on to the mortgage by saying the house needs a lot of work doing to it (which it does anyway). The total amount she would need to borrow is 305,000. The mortgage provider has said she is better off just going for approval for the 285,000 first and then for a 20K top up. My fear is that if she gets refused a top up after the mortgage agreement for the purchase price is made that she will have great difficulty paying back the CU loan as well as the mortgage. Any advice greatly appreciated.