PhD student - can I get a mortage?

technopersia

Hi,

Sorry to hijack the post but I wanted to see what is the latest experience on the subject. I'm Starting a PhD in Pet Eng on the (lowest allowable stripped), and I'm very interested in buying a house within the 1st year of my PhD to live in (as an investment).
I'm looking to buy with my parents (they already have a mortgage). I was wondering what kind of deposit is required, and also where are the places my stipend is accepted.

Many Thanks

Cardboardbox

technopersia wrote: »

I'm Starting a PhD in Pet Eng on the (lowest allowable stripped), and I'm very interested in buying a house within the 1st year of my PhD to live in (as an investment).
I'm looking to buy with my parents (they already have a mortgage). I was wondering what kind of deposit is required, and also where are the places my stipend is accepted.

LloydsTSB recently gave me a mortgage on a stipend. They multiply the stipend by something between 3 and 4.5 times (depending on credit score) to determine the size of the mortgage. I have no experience with bringing parents into the equation so I can't say whether having them as guarantors will increase your possible mortgage, or how it affects the deposit required.

I spoke to at least 10 different banks; many hadn't heard of stipends, and after explaining it the usual reaction was "well that's very nice, but as far as we're concerned you're unemployed when you finish your PhD". It's not like I'm doing David Beckham studies :mad:

Each bank will have many mortgage advisors, some who will understand stipends and some who won't, so don't give up after a couple of banks tell you to go away, just move on to the next one. Good luck!

technopersia

Thank you for the bank tip, when you speak to bankers you know why the world's financial system keep falling apart!

Boblet22

I am a PhD student and have managed to get a mortgage from Halifax (with my stipend of 13590) who didn't seem to mind at all. It is a joint application with my partner who has a "proper job". It's saving me a fortune compared to renting!!

genieb87

Cardboardbox wrote: »

LloydsTSB recently gave me a mortgage on a stipend. They multiply the stipend by something between 3 and 4.5 times (depending on credit score) to determine the size of the mortgage.

I'm intrigued after reading this post as I've been told by other people there's no way I'd be able to get a mortgage as a PhD student. I'm now in my 2nd year and am sick of effectively throwing my money away on rent!
I'm just wondering was this a joint mortgage? It seems that all the others who managed to get a mortgage have been joint applications?!

laurathree

Hey guys - I'm also interested in this. I'm on a £16,000 p.a. stipend (first year) with a partner earning £21,000 in a permanent job (possibly rising to £25,000 in the next few months) and we have enough for £35,000 deposit (£40,000 at a stretch). No debts apart from student loans, and having done a quick Noddle check (although I know it's not quite Experian, I just wanted to get an idea) we both have excellent credit ratings.

Which banks have people been successful with? Anyone bought/ buying in London?

Thanks,

Laura

thequant

Reactive wrote: »

Of all the people out there in the country, I thought I would have been a safe bet for the banks.

...I'm getting TAX FREE £19,000/year GUARANTEED for three years (+ other earnings guarnteed) AND I do not have to pay council tax etc because I'm a student.

....there is something seriously wrong with the world if I can't get a loan.

if you were doing something "sciency" at a russell group univeristy, I would agree.

If you are doing "arts" or "humanities" at a lower tier university, I would disagree.

without knowing what subject you are doing I can't agree or disagree. This is exactly the problem the bank has, they don't have risk models that have this level of granualarity.

In a country which now has so many worthless qualifications (including Phd's), the banks quite rightly err on the side of caution.

Annisele

Laurathree, you'd be better off starting your own thread.

If you tack on to an existing one, you'll find people answer the original person's question, and not yours (like thequant did).