Trying to move - Halifax refused re-mortgage

andy0829

Hi , myself and the wife have decided to move out of london and downsize our mortgage. We have been with the halifax for 4 years and have a perfect re-payment record , no lates , no missed.

We called them to enquire about our move to another property and after some checking they came back and told us they wouldn't give us a mortgage ! , very odd we thought , we said we already have a mortgage with you and have had it for 4 years, there response was our credit rating ???. We both went online and checked with both Experian and equifax , our credit rating is better now than when the halifax gave us a morgage in the first place , my cedit score on experian is 999 and my wifes is close to that. Nothing has changed on this at all.

Really at a loss to understand why they won't allow us to sell and move?

situation is thus -
current house (under offer) £300k
curent mortgage - £220k
new house value - £260k

after fees and moving expenses we think we will have around £70k to put into the new house , so need a mortgage of around £190k.

We really can't see anything on our credit rating that would warrant such a response and would like to know if anyone thinks we would get a better response from another lender ? any recomendations on who to approach ?

also , do searches by potential lenders really damage your credit rating and if so , why ?

thanks , any help or advice appreciated

luckyfool

It might seem ridiculous, but your position or credit score, relative to what it was when you first applied isn't that relevant. It's how Halifax's credit score has changed over that period that is relevant. i.e. Their criteria is tighter, and credit score tougher now than when you took the mortgage out first time around. Having said that, given that you need less than 75% on your new property and you say your credit scores are good, it is surprising that Halifax are saying no. Do you have redemption penalties on your current Halifax deal? It may well be that another lender will be more than happy to do the mortgage for you.

opinions4u

You'll get a decent mortgage somewhere.

That said, I'd suggest you ask your mortgage adviser to check what they've keyed in to the system line by line. It could be that there's an error in what's been keyed causing a credit score result to be wrong.

As an existing customer reducing their debt and loan to value is similar to the current position, you should be able to submit an appeal to their central underwriters and have a fair chance of success. It used to be a 2 day turnround for a decision.

herbiesjp

Some lenders carry out soft credit searches which do not harm your credit file.

If you are not tied into Halifax you may well find better rates elsewhere.

What are your gross yearly salaries?

Do you have children or other debts?

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Have you done anything 'slightly naughty' with Halifax (as much as a late credit card payment, mortgage holiday, unauthorised overdraft etc) which may not have hit your third party agency credit report ?

I believe in this circumstance Halifax have an internal credit report which they use initially.

We recently had a client (three minor late payments on Halifax credit card - days, not weeks / 6 month mortage holiday to pay huge solicitor bill after separation - and even up the equity he had paid off) who was rejected out of hand by Halifax (his own bank) but placed him easily elsewhere.

Halifax can be a 'law to themselves'.

xyellowx

op do you have any outstanding loans or credit card balances?

andy0829

opinions4u wrote: »

......you should be able to submit an appeal to their central underwriters and have a fair chance of success

Do you know how we would be able to contact them ? If i telephone the Halifax would i just ask for the central underwriters to make an appeal ?

luckyfool wrote: »

....Do you have redemption penalties on your current Halifax deal?

No penalties , but we missed the the bit that said it's not portable ? It's interest only at the moment and was on a fixed rate deal , but the fixed rate ended a couple of years ago. Ideally , we would like to switch to a re-payment or part of it.

herbiesjp wrote: »

What are your gross yearly salaries? ....Do you have children or other debts?

No other debts at all , no cards and no loans. Still have 2 adult kids living at home (late 20's), both employed , they intend to move with us (deep joy). My daughter is trying to buy her own place , but is finding it hard because she is self-employed and on a contract. (oil and gas industry), but she's working on it and hopes to move out in the new year.

Wifes is around £48k and i am around £25k

herbiesjp

If Halifax definitely say no, then you would be better off looking at other lenders either direct or via a broker.

You should not really be finding it difficult to get a mortgage based on those figures/details.

luckyfool

Andy,

It will be portable, but portability is always subject to you meeting the lenders criteria at the time of the move. You are on Halifax SVR which is 3.50%, and you are on interest only but need repayment on the new mortgage ideally. i.e. There is no compelling reason whatsoever to stay with Halifax as you will be able to get much better terms from another lender. If you want a tracker/variable rate you can get better than the Halifax SVR elsewhere.

opinions4u

andy0829 wrote: »

Do you know how we would be able to contact them ? If i telephone the Halifax would i just ask for the central underwriters to make an appeal ?

Via your mortgage adviser is the way to go. Ask them for management support for the appeal.

TrickyDicky

You have not given us your income.