Mortgage for PhD wage

misscomplicated

Dear all,

This is my very first post so be kind! Just a quick question really. I want to get a mortgage using my PhD stipend (lasting another 2 years). I have seen a few posts on here regarding this but they are quite out of date and also involve a partner with a 'normal' wage.

My circumstances: i bring home every month 1000, sometimes 1300 (depending if i do teaching or not). I have absolutly no dept, no credit cards loans or overdrafts etc so i have no out goings!

I want to get a mortgage because quite frankly its cheaper than renting, rent in my area is around 600-700. I would like a mortage of £80,000 - 90,000 and have 10% deposite.

Do you think anyone would give a mortage? Should i not even bother trying?

Any help would be great,

Kind regards,

MC

nervousftb_3

hi, i am one of those phd students with a partner who has a normal wage, and we got our mortgage a couple of months ago.

basically, if you had applied for a mortgage 2 years ago, you would probably have got one based on your stipend. however, the banks have tightened up so much on this that to be honest i think your chances are extremely slim. in the past, banks would assume that doing a phd would lead to a well paid job, but in the current climate there are no such guarantees so they are very wary of lending to anyone who doesn't have a permanent income. even if you did find a bank willing to take you on, they would only count 75% of your stipend anyway (which is what they did with me, we got our mortgage through C&G, but as i said my partner's wages were enough for them to not worry too mcuh about me!).

sorry to sound so negative but from the lenders point of view you are far too high risk as you have no real income, and after two years you may be unemployed. if you had a much bigger deposit they may be more generous, but even then i think you would struggle. sorry!

ginvzt

I am not sure you will get mortgage because of multiples. Assuming you get £12k guaranteed scholarship (not a wage, sorry), and you want a mortgage of £80 to £90 k, you would need a multiple of 6.7 to 7.5, way too high.

Also, you say rent is high at £600, but your outgoings won't be much less with your own place, as it is not only mortgage, but also the insurances and upkeep of the house to consider.

Bufger

its more about the current monthley income and any outgoings now. Having a job as a 'profession' does help as it pretty much indicates higher wages later on in life.

I'm a 'professional' on a starting wage of £1695 per month. I could only just get a mortgage (by my calcs) for 100k with no outgoings and an excellent credit history. I'm buying with my partner though so its not a problem.

Good luck anyway! You never know until you try.

misscomplicated

Yeah it really is a slim chance, i may not even try and may wait until my partner starts his new job in the coming year. thanks everyone!

CM

morg_monster

I reckon it is better to wait until your partner has a new job, it isn't long to wait though I know it feels like it.
But just wanted to add a recent experience, I am a phd student and have a husband with a good wage (i was probably one of the old posts you found!) but I spoke to a mortgage advisor over the phone last week and he was quite refreshing about the whole thing. His POV was, you've got a contract somewhere that says this studentship is guaranteed for a few years, right? (yes) which is more than some people can say about their job... and you've got some payslips that show the money going in each month (yes) and this PhD should help you go into a new higher paid job once you are finished, right? (yes) He didn't see it as a big problem adn thought my income would be counted by lenders. However we've got a proper face to face meeting with him next week so we'll see more clearly then, lenders might think differently and I don't know if he's actually managed to arrange such a mortgage before. Obviously it helps having DH with a good salary and we may not even need my contribution in the end for borrowing calcs, but just to say that when your partner gets a job your studentship might well be counted towards salary multiples etc. But I'd definitely wait until then, and keep adding to that deposit in the meantime.

dwsjarcmcd

Just a point regarding your lack of credit and debt. I'm not sure whether you've had any or have paid it off. If it is the former, then that s a negative as you've not proven you can manage debt and would count against you. Get a credit card and manage it well. If it the later, then ignore!