We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Mortgage Query - Santander?

Hi - not sure if this is the right place to post, so apologies.

I'm helping my cousin to buy a house by putting up the deposit, and will help with the mortgage payments by over-paying, so the mortgage will be in both of our names although I won't live there.

We want a mortgage that we can over-pay on, rate re-calculated daily, preferably with zero or very low set-up fees.

We've seen a 'whole of market' broker who has told us the best deal is Santander - no set up fees, can overpay, rate is 3.69% fixed for 2 years, for £110k over 20 years.

The estate agent we're buying the house through has told us Santander won't accept us because I won't be living at the property, and he's come up with similar deals with Nat West, Nationwide & Halifax (all with set up fees), who he says will.

The first broker did ask us if we minded 'bending the rules' a bit, so my guess is that he was going to class us as a 'couple' moving in together. (I have no other mortgage or loans to tie me to my current property.)

Does anyone know why one is pro-Santander and the other so against? Am I missing something really obvious? I know that the banks pay them for the business, but surely that's not THE major factor in who they recommend (or am I being naive)?

Any insight would be incredibly helpful, thanks!

Comments

  • kingstreet
    kingstreet Posts: 39,436 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The difference between commission payments by High Street lenders is minimal.

    Santander

    Standard 0.33%
    Flexi 0.4%
    Long term fix (5Y) 0.5%
    Ten year fix 0.7%

    NatWest

    Standard 0.32%

    Nationwide

    All 0.35%

    Halifax

    Standard 0.31%

    All the products mentioned allow you to overpay by 10% per annum, off the top of my head.
    I am a mortgage broker. 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. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.
  • chanz4
    chanz4 Posts: 11,057 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Xmas Saver!
    Aki123 wrote: »
    Hi - not sure if this is the right place to post, so apologies.

    I'm helping my cousin to buy a house by putting up the deposit, and will help with the mortgage payments by over-paying, so the mortgage will be in both of our names although I won't live there.

    We want a mortgage that we can over-pay on, rate re-calculated daily, preferably with zero or very low set-up fees.

    We've seen a 'whole of market' broker who has told us the best deal is Santander - no set up fees, can overpay, rate is 3.69% fixed for 2 years, for £110k over 20 years.

    The estate agent we're buying the house through has told us Santander won't accept us because I won't be living at the property, and he's come up with similar deals with Nat West, Nationwide & Halifax (all with set up fees), who he says will.

    The first broker did ask us if we minded 'bending the rules' a bit, so my guess is that he was going to class us as a 'couple' moving in together. (I have no other mortgage or loans to tie me to my current property.)

    Does anyone know why one is pro-Santander and the other so against? Am I missing something really obvious? I know that the banks pay them for the business, but surely that's not THE major factor in who they recommend (or am I being naive)?

    Any insight would be incredibly helpful, thanks!

    Its so the agent can get the commission and not your mb, I found that when I went to view a house
    Don't put your trust into an Experian score - it is not a number any bank will ever use & it is generally a waste of money to purchase it. They are also selling you insurance you dont need.
  • Aki123
    Aki123 Posts: 60 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    kingstreet wrote: »
    The difference between commission payments by High Street lenders is minimal.

    Santander

    Standard 0.33%
    Flexi 0.4%
    Long term fix (5Y) 0.5%
    Ten year fix 0.7%

    NatWest

    Standard 0.32%

    Nationwide

    All 0.35%

    Halifax

    Standard 0.31%

    All the products mentioned allow you to overpay by 10% per annum, off the top of my head.

    Thanks - so you think the one from the estate agents is just trying to discredit the other one to get our business and there's no problem with us going with Santander if I don't live there?
  • Aki123
    Aki123 Posts: 60 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    chanz4 wrote: »
    Its so the agent can get the commission and not your mb, I found that when I went to view a house

    Oops - I meant to put my query on this one .....

    Thanks - so you think the one from the estate agents is just trying to discredit the other one to get our business and there's no problem with us going with Santander if I don't live there?
  • chanz4
    chanz4 Posts: 11,057 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Xmas Saver!
    I cant answer about that part just my experience where one tried todo the same.
    Don't put your trust into an Experian score - it is not a number any bank will ever use & it is generally a waste of money to purchase it. They are also selling you insurance you dont need.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 353.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 246.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 603.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.3K Life & Family
  • 261K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.