Halifax wants to contact Inland Revenue - Help please

terrysmith78

Dear Forum members,

I have recently made a mortgage application to Halifax for a shared ownership property. I provided them all the details they needed and after 1 week and came back to me and saying that they need to contact inland revenue to cross check my income.

Now the problem is I am buying a new built flat and housing association has given me only 4 weeks to exchange the contract. I want someone's advise about how its going to happen because if halifax contact inland revenue then I am sure they will long to get back to them and housing association will withdraw their offer and I will end up losing my holding deposit.

Could somone advise me how long inland revenue take to check income or whether housing association can withdraw their offer while the mortgage application is in progress??

kingstreet

There's a new link between HMRC and mortgage lenders. The lender can access your income tax records online at a cost of £14. Assuming they can do this in your case, there should be no delay.

Have they indicated how they intend to do this? I reckon if they wanted it on paper, they'd have asked you to do it; so online it is, most likely.

You're the first case I've heard of this happening.

Let us know how it goes.

terrysmith78

They wrote to me and asked me to fill out the form containing my NI number and tax office details.

I spoke to Haliax this morning and they refused to give me any timescale. However they said they will write to inland revenue and I can call HMRC and ask them to speed up Halifax request but everyone know inland revenue can be very lazy at times.

I have already paid the solicitor fees and paid £450 for valuation survey to Halifax and I believe I will lose all the money if housing association withdraw their offer.

RenovationMan

Why not speak to the HA and keep them informed of the situation? They probably put the deadline on to make sure people get a move on. If this is out of your hands then they'll probably be sympathetic. Saying that, a month is a long time and as far as I know, the IR doesn't use carrier pigeons for it's correspondence anymore, so you should have plenty of time. Just let the HA know how you're progressing and I dare say things will work out ok.

kingstreet

A four week exchange is a target figure for most newbuilds and I doubt very much if you'll lose your reservation if it takes a little bit longer.

As long as you're seen to be doing all you can to make it happen, they tend to accept delays do happen.

Any idea why Halifax is doing this?

terrysmith78

I am not sure.

It may be because I applied with Abbey about 2 months ago and they declined my application without giving me any reason.

koexelek

kingstreet wrote: »

There's a new link between HMRC and mortgage lenders. The lender can access your income tax records online at a cost of £14. Assuming they can do this in your case, there should be no delay.

that's good to hear:T

So sick of lenders insisting on SA302's and the Inland revenue taking weeks to produce them .

kingstreet

koexelek wrote: »

that's good to hear:T

So sick of lenders insisting on SA302's and the Inland revenue taking weeks to produce them .

At the charge being levied, it's been said it won't replace the payslip, accounts and SA302s they will ask for anyway. It's just another means of them checking income.

I can see it being an anti-fraud tool for fast-track cases, TBH.

FraudBuster

More information:

http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/3039

Murdina

From what it says this is not an alternative to giving information but a way for lenders to cross check.
There is a special team in HMRC so response times will entirely depend on how busy they are - or not - and my guess would be it is a small team.
It appears all HMRC do is tell the lender that the information does or does not correspond. It does not appear to be a system whereby lender applies to HMRC and they tell lender what you are declaring your income as.
If you are in regular employment then showing your P60s should be sufficient. This scheme is more for self-employed/co directors who have scope to manipulate what they say (the classic story is that anyone in that position has 3 sets of accounts. The one with the highest profits is for the bank. The one with the lowest is for HMRC. The true ones are in the middle.)

terrysmith78

I know from other forums that self employed people's income is usually cross checked but I have never been self employed and I did provide my P60 and recent payslips.

Let see how long they take to get back to me.