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Amber House Loans - any views on self-cert mortgage?

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Hello,
I would be grateful for some advice, please. I am self-employed, have been for a number of years but I only been running my current business for a few months. Before that, I was working part time, fitting my business around my family, but that had to go when my husband and I split up and I am now working full time at something quite different. I want to buy a house, I have a £25,000 deposit and I am looking for a £140,000 fixed rate interest-only mortgage. My income fluctuates quite a bit, but the inflow into my account is normally between £2000 and £3000 per month (this includes some WFT and child credits). My books cannot really demonstrate this level of income but I am confident that this is not only sustainable over time but that in fact it will improve as I become more established.
I understand the risk of taking on such a large mortgage on my current income, but I have some "protection" in place: in addition to my deposit I have £5,000 to pay for legal fees and moving costs and also have another £30,000 in ISAs which is a start towards repaying the capital but is also in place to tidy me over in case of illness or other serious problems. I am very self-disciplined about money and I know I won't touch this unless it is really essential and I will add to it as and when I can. I have no loans or other debt and have an excellent credit rating. I currently pay £550 in rent and manage a reasonable standard of living and to save regularly on top of that.
I have spoken to a whole market mortgage broker who has come up with a deal with Amber Home Loans at 5.89% fixed for 5 years. The fees for this are £599, valuation fees included. This deal seems reasonable to me considering that I cannot prove my income but I would be interested to know if this could possibly be improved upon. Also I am not familiar with this lender and wondered if anybody had any views on them.
Many thanks in advance

anna77

Comments

  • Mr_helpful
    Mr_helpful Posts: 3,233 Forumite
    The lender is ok (part of Skipton bs ) They are not the fastest and ask a fair bit but I have never had that much of a problem with them. There is always likely to be some one who has a better deal on these boards but without a full fact find it would not be possible to tell so I would just check with existing broker
    I like to give people as many choices as possible to do what I want them to. (Milton H Erickson I think)
  • herbiesjp
    herbiesjp Posts: 8,499 Forumite
    What figures do your books actually show?
    I am a Mortgage Adviser
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • anna77_2
    anna77_2 Posts: 23 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Thank you, Mr helpful.

    Herbiesjp, my tax return for the year ending in April will show an income for the year of around £14,000 after all expenses and business allowances have been deducted, and I claim for everything I can make a good case for. This is for the tax year, but my new business has been running less than that.
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