Nationwide and Santander experiences

BelleBot

I've just had my offer accepted on a lovely little house. Now I have to get my act together and apply for a mortgage and get a solicitor sorted.
In terms of mortgages my best bet is either with Santander (through a broker) or direct with Nationwide. Does anyone have any experience with either of these lenders?

My friends have told me to steer well clear of Santander as they've had problems with them in the past in terms of current accounts but not mortgages. Plus a few people have warned me about the fact it's a Spanish bank and Spain isn't in exactly the best financial position. But the deal is probably slightly better than Nationwide, but only just.

Nationwide on the other hand I've banked with for 19 years so there's no need to dig out bank statements and the like and I've never had a problem with them. Plus their variable rate after the fix is miles better than what Santander offer but then again does this matter when interest rates will have no doubt changed in 4/5 years?

I'd be very grateful for any advice.

Imma_Number

Q&A: Is Santander UK a safe bank?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18114153

davilown

I've banked with santander for 2 years, never had a problem, though only for current account. I've had a mortgage for 3 years and no probs. easy to deal with and contact.

pinkteapot

We've just had our mortgage offer from Santander after applying through a broker.

All good. Approved fast. Called them with a query and didn't have to hold long, then spoke to a helpful person in a UK call centre.

In terms of them going under, at least you'd owe them money rather than the other way round...

kingstreet

Nationwide is committed to a lower standard variable rate than other lenders.

It offers existing borrowers retention and new products at least as good as it gives new borrowers.

A lot easier to deal with, from a broker's point of view.

On the other hand, Santander is...

Let's just say we use them only when we have no other option.

dgtazzman

Having just been through a mortgage application with Nationwide, I would recommend them. They've been very flexible with us, have constantly kept us/IFA informed of what's going on and have replied swiftly to a few queries. I liked the touch that they send you a text message once a milestone has been reached.

There are better rates out there, but the rates with Nationwide seem very reasonable and their fees seem to be towards the lower end compared to others.

NinjaJ1

I'd certainly recommend Nationwide.
We got our mortgage from them 5 years ago & they were very efficient. Our deal included free legal fees so we used their solicitors who were excellent as well.

drdpj

Currently moving with Santander... If it were not for the fact that the deal I was offered doesn't exist anywhere else I would say "run!" - It's probably easier through a broker (again, wouldn't have been able to get this deal without going direct), but I've had approximately 4 hours worth of phone interview (2 hours to get to AIP, followed by another 2 for the full application). The questioning has been bonkers to a large degree: "What is the purpose of the shares you hold?" "It's a better return than a savings account." "Yes, but what is their purpose?" "As an investment?!".

That said the Mortgage Consultant I've been dealing with has been lovely, it's just the programmers of the computer that's dictating the path to the mortgage that's the main issue...

deejaybee

Santander: happily use them for 123 current a/c & credit card, but phone application for mortgage was akin to an interrogation.. and we were refused.

Apparently Santander are the only bank that still counts credit card balances against affordability even if you have told them that you intend to pay it off in full before completion..

Nationwide, knocked us back, but didn't deal with them direct, went via L&C, so perhaps down to their competence or lack of.

ferry

Santander/Abbey remortgage themselves were a breeze with AIP and eventual acceptance oddly enough after reading through some of the posts here especially as we had a second charge on our property(secured loan) and asked for additional borrowing.Maybe it just got down to our 45% LTV?
The only barrier and hard work came through their appointed conveyancing solicitors QCAS which were terrible to say the least and nearly cost us our new mortgage deal through lost docs and lack of communication.Although I have to say that it does depend on who you are allocated to overlook your personal case.
(You'll be appointed a dedicated 'handler' but we never got to speak to them as every time time we called to follow up/update the files we just dealt with anyone who answered the call.)
We made contact with another handler who was spot on and we eventually channelled all our enquiries thorough her.
We have now completed but it was stressfull down to the last days.Both us and our IFA are considering taking the matter further.

Hope this helps

FTB_Doll

FTB applied through Santander, no problems just took about 2 weeks to get my offer but in grand scheme of things not too bad. Also they were happy to change our payment dates no problem always been ok on the phone no complaints really x