First time buyer classification

leereni

I went to my local halifax regarding.my account several weeks ago.

Whilst speaking to the advisor we started talking about mortgages and I told her my partner and I did not qualify for a first time buyer product as she owns a property in another country.

The advisor who was polish looked surprised and told me her husband owns a property in Poland. I gathered from this she had bought a property in the uk as a first time buyer with her husband and not declared the other property in Poland. She went away to question this with a mortgage advisor and returned to tell me we wouldn't qualify but would be eligible for a move home mortgage. She then told me this was interesting and we left it as that.

My first question is, how do banks/building societies check if ou have any properties abroad?

What are your thoughts regarding the above advisor and her inclination to suggest she has potentially broken the law?

kingstreet

It's not a major issue.

Lenders now set product pricing so they give equal benefit to all types of customer. FTB products might get a refund of valuation, or similar, while a home mover product may have a slightly lower rate.

I wouldn't worry about it. Now the stamp duty exemption for FTBs has ended, there's little benefit over other borrowers.

leereni

With halifax they offer a lower rate which effectively means ill pay about £100 less per month on the mortgage I am looking at....

kingstreet

In my experience, Halifax rates aren't particularly competetive at the moment. Which other lenders have you looked at?

leereni

None yet. Just gauging the market for the time being.

What are your thoughts regarding the advisor and also my original question?

kingstreet

Like I said, I don't see it as a major issue. A property outside the UK is non-verifiable and I'd not worry too much about calling myself an FTB in those circumstances.

In addition, different lenders have different criteria. Some say "never owned a property", while others say "haven't owned a property in the last XXX years."

leereni

Thanks.

Do you know what halifax criteria is?

kingstreet

Not off the top of my head, no.

kingstreet

I was in the Halifax Intermediary site, so I had a look;-

First time buyers (FTB)

To qualify for a FTB product, one applicant must not have previously bought or owned a property (including inherited/bought for cash).

Let_Us_See

Basically, there is no procedure for a UK lender to check ownership of foreign properties. However, if you are regularly remitting funds from your UK bank account to cover ongoing mortgage payments then this could be picked up by a UK lender requesting your last three months bank statements etc.