All New to Me!!!!! And I'm scared

Housebuyer958

Hi Everyone, expert advice required PLEASE!!!

2 months ago I contacted a broker to enquire if there was any chance at all that I could ever get a mortgage (no way I thought). He took all my details and any debts that were being paid off, etc. As I thought that I had no chance of a mortgage I estimated our saleries and he did the check. I got an AIP from Halifax for £305,000 and what they call an "A" credit rating! Great I thought.

Fast forward to now and I have come into £40K to use for a deposit. Constantly in touch with my broker who assured me that I'm not going to have any issues due to the previous AIP. 2 days later have found the dream house at the dream price. Offer accepted and gave the green light to my broker. Had to rework my saleries and wife too as this is all happening a bit earlier than thought. So on his calulator he worked out I could borrow £190K instead and suggested we try Natwest instead due to better rates. That night he was going on holiday but before he left he sorted out all the documents and everything to send Natwest the actual application. Just has he was leaving he "pressed the button" and it came back DECLINED!!!. Arggh!

He's on hols now and not back till next week. He has said there is nothing to worry about as the two banks use different agencies for checks and we already have the green light from Halifax.

What is worrying me is two things:
1. If he re-does an AIP with Halifax based on new salaries, is there a chance Halifax won't consider me an "A" rating anymore. Nothing has changed on my credit apart from a new phone contract I took out a month ago.
2. Even if AIP comes back okay, does it really make any difference as I don't know if more credit checks are done in more details?

I am losing my mind about this. I really want this house and am terrified that the decline from Natwest was the beginning of a slippery slope and the original green light from Halifax confuses me. Please can someone give me some kind of hope!! (or do I need to accept that house is never going to be mine?)

beecher2

Had to rework my saleries and wife too as this is all happening a bit earlier than thought.

Did you lie about your details? Wouldn't have thought that'd go down well with Halifax and it all sounds a bit dodgy

Why did Natwest decline you? Is there an issue with your credit file? What is your joint salary and how much of a mortgage do you need?

Housebuyer958

When I originally spoke to the broker we were talking about getting a mortgage in December. My wife is a student nurse but will be in a full time job by then so I told him I was on £50 per year and she would be on about £18K.

But everything moved quicker and as she is still a student that is why I have had to adjust the salaries to input. After going though all the paperwork I have it works out that I am on about 42K inc bonus and she gets a bursery of 7K per year. The broker worked out that I could get a mortgage on my own with halifax for about £186K and my purchase price is £222K. Or I could go with the Natwest who accept burseries as income and be able to borrow £220K so that seemed like the best option, but it was declined.

Your point is what I am worrying about. Will submitting another AIP with different salary details affect my chances or will Halifax just adjust the amount I can borrow and still consider me an "A" rating.

As for my credit I always assumed it was bad but the fact that I got an offer from Halifax with an "A" rating shocked me but that is whole reason I started this journey. If nothing has changed in my financial life in two months is there any reason to expect a change in the result?

getmore4less

original AIP £305k on £50k + £18k thats 4.5 times joint

Now it turns out it is £42k inc bonus + £7k

What on earth made you think you were on £50k

Won't look good on a cross check of applications.


What makes you think you may have had no good credit.
Any debts or defaults?

opinions4u

Will submitting another AIP with different salary details affect my chances or will Halifax just adjust the amount I can borrow and still consider me an "A" rating.

When I sold Halifax mortgages I was quite comfortable issuing an AIP based on estimate income figures. It was only when a full application was made that these estimates needed to get accurate.

While your sums are remarkably away from the facts, there should be no problem in resubmitting your existing AIP with accurate income details.

The enquiry will be rescored (it may be an "A" or it may fall, it may notice the Nat West search) and a new maximum amount to borrow will be issued. This should give you more peace of mind.

Do you know of any reason why the Nat West enquiry failed?

Housebuyer958

Been thinking about why it failed and it could be a couple of things......

1. When I did the original application, Halifax mentioned that my wife wasn't on the electoral role but it didn't matter I just needed to prove address name etc (as it happens she is, got election card for her through last week). may be that Natwest picked that up and just said no.

2. My broker says that these two banks use different credit companies. could be that. I have some debts from abouyt 10 years ago that I have been paying the whole time (ie nothing defualted). maybe experian has less details on it that Equifax?

if it does come back as "A" rating and I send my details off (which btw are squeaky clean) does this mean the mortgage is nailed on? If you know this, what does "B" & "C" mean?

I just have to get this mortgage - this is such a massive deal to me

opinions4u

I've not been involved in Halifax mortgages for around 6 years, so the information I give is pre-Credit Crunch / pre-Lloyds and things are most likely much tighter now.

Not many credit scores achieved an "A". These cases were usually big deposit, over three years in job / at address.

"B" cases just not quite as clean but still very good quality. They often get underwritten in exactly the same way as "A".

"C" cases tended to be underwritten very thoroughly with verification of nearly everything you could verify being required.

if it does come back as "A" rating and I send my details off (which btw are squeaky clean) does this mean the mortgage is nailed on?

This certainly used to be the case.

Housebuyer958

Well my situation seems to fit A then. Been in job for 10 years, address fine, never overdrawn, credit rating ain't great but not awful, 40k deposit. Just worried why one bank would think I was great and the other bad??? Hope that I get the same result from Halifax when I re submitt next week. Tell you what though, this house buyer stuff is bloody stressful. And I've only just started!!!!

Housebuyer958

Hi All, thanks for your advice.....hopefully I'm just worrying over nothing.

Anyway, just to update you and ask if anyone might know the answer to this?

I've checked my credit report and basically my new address is fine and my old address is !!!!!!ed. But I moved 3.2 years ago. Adviser at my brokers said that banks usually check 3 years history (hence Halifax being okay) but he thinks that maybe Natwest checked 3-6 years history which would mean bad news.......

Does anyone know about address history?

Also, another question for you experts......he said that because I have already been scored "A" from Halifax, it "would be unheard of" to come back different (at worst a "B") once I revise my AIP and apply again.

How true do you think this is......I'm still a little unsettled about Halifax changing their mind

Thanks