Self Employed looking to be first-time buyer in London

slimg

Hello,

I've been lurking the forum trying to learn from everyone's experience…

I'm a 28 years old freelancer living in London and, after 5 years living in studio flats Im deciding to buy my first property.. My rent is 750£/month for a good size studio in Islington N1. Every year is roughly 9K £ and with the constant increase in rents I really feel like it's my time to buy.
I earn more or less 15K £/year and I haven't been saving that much… I have around 5K £ saved. I have 2 accounts, one with HSBC and the second with Barclays, no debts.
I'm really a newbie in all this and I was wondering if the bank will be able to give me a mortgage, if yes which one it would suits me best?
I actually seen a really nice property for 235K £ a really nice one bedroom flat and yeah despite I find it really expensive for me deep inside myself I really like that place. My family will give me a really big help giving me 80K £ so I may need a 155£ mortgage.

What would be the best move for someone in my position and who is the best person to speak to guide me through this?

I was thinking to go to both HSBC and Barclays and see which one would give me a mortgage I'm just afraid I would end up in some confusing stuff.

Any suggestion will be really appreciated,

Thanks a lot!

marliepanda

Even with that deposit I think you have zero chance of lending over 10x your income. 5x is more achievable.

Talc1234

You are not going to be able to borrow £155K on a salary of £15K.

The banks are likely to have issues with a deposit gifted to you from your family

I would suggest that you find a way to earn more and save more

Sorry

mummyyum

As above...absolutely no chance of getting a mortgage for that amount on your earnings. You'd be lucky to borrow even four times salary as you're a freelancer nd would have to have accounts to prove those earnings as well. I wouldn't even bother going to your bank to ask...you're just wasting your time I'm afraid. Start saving hard and up your income significantly, then think about buying

slimg

Yeah I thought about that....I just heard the govern was helping the first-time buyers somehow I thought maybe I could be in the range

marliepanda

They are helping by boosting deposits, which seems to be the main sticking point. Without the 80k from your parents you could maybe qualify for a scheme (but not at that price range, nowhere near) but with an 85k deposit you will not get government help.

Think about it from the banks point if view. If you paid them everything you earned it'd take ten years to pay back (not even looking at interest, so even longer)

Paying half your salary it'd take 20 years, again not looking with interest, and leaving you with barely anything to live on.

Definitely need to look at places more along the price of 125-150k