do tax credits / maintenance count towards a mortgate....

goingitalone_2

HELP! I'm just separating from my husband and we have about 100k equity in our house. I don't earn anywhere near enough to raise a mortgate (13k) but really don't want to spend my half of the equity on rent, ie. someone elses mortgage! Will my maintenance from my husband (we have 2 young children) and tax credits count towards my income when applying for a mortgage, or am I doomed to rent? Many thanks for any advice....

herbiesjp

A lot of lenders will indeed accept tax credits and maintenance as incoem they can use towards agreeing a mortgage for you

IS the maintenance supported by a court order?

goingitalone_2

Thanks, no court order yet, it's very early days. No idea where I stand financially really, just trying to cope with the reality of starting afresh, as it were.

herbiesjp

Without a court order, it is slightly more difficult but can still be done

Reason is, most lenders will want proof of any income you have. Maintenece without the court order is not necessarily secure i.e paid one month and then never again, and that woudl leave you with a mortgage to pay with part of your monthly income disappeared

At least with a court order, a lender is happier as they know that non payment would end up in front of the court straight away - whether or not anything would happen is a different matter, but a lender looks more favourably on this option

HTH

lisa76

sorry to hear of your split.

when i split last year, the maintenance figure was taken into account, but as herbie says, only with a court order.

i know there's a lot going on at the moment but you need to get a separation agreement written up straightaway, and the maintenance figure has to be arranged and then this will go in front of the courts.

my solicitor said it would be done within 4 weeks, but it was more like 6 weeks.

you can put things in place with your mortgage in the meantime, but nothing can be signed until the building society/bank sees a copy of the court order - and then you're looking at another 2 weeks.

if i remember they do look at your tax credit figure, but as this can change year to year i don't think they like to use it as fixed income.

good luck