Worried about HSBC mortgage rejection

Aslt86

Hi all,

It's my first post on these forums, however am an avid follower of anything and everything on MSE.com.

I am a FTB looking to buy with my fiance. We have 10% deposit and looking to borrow just less than 4x income. Joint income of £53,000, excellent credit scores, never missed payments, no overdraft. However partner is only halfway through his car loan (£3500 left over 18mnths).

We have an AIP from HSBC and they will lend what we need however had to wait over two weeks for full application meeting (provisional meeting in branch for Friday). We decided to apply over the phone, got told they don't do this anymore, so told to apply online. We went through the process which included getting ANOTHER AIP, and got refused before even being put through to full application. We still have our appointment in place on Friday, but are now worried they are going to reject us due to what happened online. We have also read that HSBC are notoriously difficult when lending with low deposit. Should we bother with the meeting, or look for another lender?

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks!

Thrugelmir

I believe HSBC require a joint income of £75,000 for mortgage applications. (£50k for sole applicants).

HSBC are targeting a very particular market segment in response to the demand for their mortgage products.

Aslt86

Thanks for your reply. I find it so frustrating that they would even give us a AIP when they would never intend to lend to us!

Aslt86

Has anyone had any experience with Post Office being as strict as HSBC?

TheQuietMan

We took out a mortgage with the Post Office 3 years ago to purchase our first home, also with 10% deposit and just under 4x salary. Have to say the online application process was absolutely fantastic - from initial application to funds being available was 12 days!! Didn't speak to one person regarding application - constant updates via text messages.

You may note from a recent thread of mine that I will be leaving them soon but that's only as a matter of principle for me and not my desire as I have recommended them to several people.

Hope this helps and good luck with whoever you choose.

Thrugelmir

All lenders are tightening up to comply with the incoming Mortgage Market Review. So all applications will be assessed thoroughly.

scottishblondie

Thrugelmir wrote: »

I believe HSBC require a joint income of £75,000 for mortgage applications. (£50k for sole applicants).

HSBC are targeting a very particular market segment in response to the demand for their mortgage products.

I thought that was for their BTL mortgages? I obtained a mortgage with HSBC just over a year ago, and my income is sadly somewhat less that £50k!

Dmitrii

Aslt86 wrote: »

We have an AIP from HSBC and they will lend what we need however had to wait over two weeks for full application meeting (provisional meeting in branch for Friday). We decided to apply over the phone, got told they don't do this anymore, so told to apply online. We went through the process which included getting ANOTHER AIP, and got refused before even being put through to full application. We still have our appointment in place on Friday, but are now worried they are going to reject us due to what happened online. We have also read that HSBC are notoriously difficult when lending with low deposit. Should we bother with the meeting, or look for another lender?

Thanks!

Their online application is a joke; e.g. it assumes that you resided in UK in the past 5 years or so, there is just no way to enter an overseas address for previous addresses. I would not have taken it too seriously. They are such a mess. We had a hair-raising experience today: after getting an AIP at our branch we phoned and were told that indeed they don't do this on the phone any more; and so they will book us a branch appointment. And they told us that our AIP was only valid for a month (although it's for 3 months in our case)! We hang up and phoned again, and managed to convince another guy on the phone that we do have a valid AIP and can go ahead with the real thing. In the neighbourhood the waiting time is 3+ weeks; we managed to get an appointment in a branch 50km away in 10 days time, we'll have to take a train to go there...

By the way, it might be easier if you are an HSBC customer. They would be able to override the computer for you in this case with ease, as we were told by a colleague, who got rejected by HSBC for a mortgage, and were told that they cannot override the computer decision for them as they are not their customers.

tommmy

Should not have read this post as now will have totally sleepless nights for the next couple of days.
A bit strange as we phoned in last Saturday 15/02/14 and applied for our mortgage over the phone. They did bring the offer down from their initial quite thorough in-branch application by 28k though. We are still OK but this was quite confusing and not reassuring at all. Today I was told that our application is with their underwriters. Although we have 20% deposit we are way below 70k (joint income) so now don't really know what to think of it all.
Feeling nervous.

Dmitrii

tommmy wrote: »

Should not have read this post as now will have totally sleepless nights for the next couple of days.
A bit strange as we phoned in last Saturday 15/02/14 and applied for our mortgage over the phone.

Apparently you were one of the last... We phoned them on Friday, were told to call tomorrow, decided instead to call Monday, and, oops... :–)

Thrugelmir

Their online application is a joke; e.g. it assumes that you resided in UK in the past 5 years or so, there is just no way to enter an overseas address for previous addresses

Why is that a joke? Perhaps that is what HSBC require to consider the application.