Yorkshire BS offset mortgage questions

goldmask

My two year fixed offset mortgage deal with First Direct will finish by the end of this year. I plan to remortgage to Yorkshire BS because their five year fixed offset mortgages are the most competitive in the market. Before I call them, I would like to ask people here some questions about Yorkshire BS.

1) I heard that Yorkshire BS is very slow in processing mortgage applications. On average, how long does it take from application to completion?

2) By searching this forum, I found that Yorkshire BS also takes the available credit into consideration when they underwrite the mortgage. I have a balance of £20,000 on 35,000 available credit (all 0% interest). The money is now sitting in my offset saving account to save me interest. I will repay all of them one month before the application. But how much cards do I need to cancel? I would like to keep a £15,000 MBNA card for future deals, but will it be an issue for Yorkshire BS even if the blance will be nil when I apply?

3) My mortgage balance is about £140,000, my house was bought for £249,000 and is probably worth £270,000 (judging by recent sale prices of similar properties in the neighbourhood). I plan to borrow 65% and leave all the extra borrowed money in linked offset saving account to give me maximum flexibility (deposit for a buy-to-let). Will Yorkshire BS consider the current market price, or will they stick to the last sale price? If affodibility is not a problem, do I need to give them a reason to borrow more money? Will investment be a good reason if asked?

Many thanks.

dimbo61

We have an offset mortgage with YBS and love the flexability if offers.
We were able to borrow the mortgage amount we wanted while still keeping a large sum in the offset account.
No idea about process times is everything straight forward ? Not self employed or high LTV, new job etc ?
YBS have tough lendering criteria so having lots of available credit may count against you and how much do you really save ?
I would clear the CC debts now so off credit file long before applying to YBS
Do not complicate matters by talking about BTL the money in the offset are savings Just in case !!
Stamp duty at £250 K will mean that is what YBS will value your house at

goldmask

dimbo61 wrote: »

We have an offset mortgage with YBS and love the flexability if offers.
We were able to borrow the mortgage amount we wanted while still keeping a large sum in the offset account.
No idea about process times is everything straight forward ? Not self employed or high LTV, new job etc ?
YBS have tough lendering criteria so having lots of available credit may count against you and how much do you really save ?
I would clear the CC debts now so off credit file long before applying to YBS
Do not complicate matters by talking about BTL the money in the offset are savings Just in case !!
Stamp duty at £250 K will mean that is what YBS will value your house at

Thanks a lot for the reply. I think our case should be straight forward. Two salaries (though wife is now wroking part time to take care of our son), same companies for ten years and three years, respectively. I will follow your advice to clear the balance early and cancel all cards except for the Tesco card for shopping. I will try the 65% LTV first, but 60% will also be fine.

michaels

I find the ybs calculator offers pretty low income multiple because of having 3 dependents and a SAHW. Could the 'extra borrowing' be for a planned extension if they ask?!

goldmask

michaels wrote: »

I find the ybs calculator offers pretty low income multiple because of having 3 dependents and a SAHW. Could the 'extra borrowing' be for a planned extension if they ask?!

I player a bit with their calculator and found that the credit card balance is a huge factor in determine how much I can borrow. When I applied to Frist Direct two years ago, I explained why I kept around £5,000 balance on my cards, and showed proof that money was there to cover it, I was not even asked to clear the balance before completion.

But I guess YBS might be more picky and I don't want to take the risk. So I will start stoozing again after the mortgage is completed.

goosander

goldmask wrote: »

1) I heard that Yorkshire BS is very slow in processing mortgage applications. On average, how long does it take from application to completion?

I'd be interested to know the answer to this too.

I completed the first stage of the application for a 5yr fixed offset on Tuesday which came back as 'refer', I then completed the full application. Got an email on Wednesday saying I had been approved in principle but I haven't heard from them since (no request for pay slips etc).