Mortgage affordability woes

Stevefromdonny

Hi, I have a mortgage (alone) with Santander with £65000 left to repay. Original amount was £70k in 2010, property value was £77k in 2010, now roughly £85k after substantial improvements. Currently on Santander's SVR, 4.74% repaying £362 a month. Want to reduce this somewhat. Searched Google, YBS came out top (of the mortgage providers I know!) so I booked an appointment.

Turns out, they will only lend me £26k! Which was a little embarrassing. Apparently if I lived alone and had no dependants (as was the case in 2010) they would have lent me up to £75k. The main problem is the missus is on maternity and her salary is an unknown quantity until she returns to work - she may not be able to resume the job she left depending on childcare. Anyway, because I couldn't declare her salary to YBS this is why they wouldn't lend to me, because in theory I am supporting 3 people. Daft. My salary is £27k. Hers WAS about £17k.

I then went to Santander (as the YBS lady recommended) and on a fee free fix I could only save £1 a month. Hmmm. Hardly worth the time of day but it would mean no rises for 2 years.

Any ideas? Go to the bank alone next time? :A (Seriously would never consider lying to them) It was just so disheartening. YBS had a deal at 2.9% over 2 years IIRC which would mean I'd be paying a lot less than I am now (about £60 less a month). I originally used a face to face broker to get the mortgage, should I go back to him? Or might he face the same difficulties with other lenders? Would I be better off waiting until the o/h returns to work to see what her salary is and then use this to increase the affordability score? The problem there is the Base rate may have gone up by then.

All this computer magic means people that actually can make ends meet now (such as myself) get knocked back trying to actually get better deals for themselves!

ACG

Speak to a broker, they may be able to make it work at a better rate... they may not but it doesnt hurt to ask.

Thrugelmir

Stevefromdonny wrote: »

I then went to Santander (as the YBS lady recommended) and on a fee free fix I could only save £1 a month. Hmmm. Hardly worth the time of day but it would mean no rises for 2 years.

Sometimes peace of mind is a price worth paying.

Rates are edging upwards even without an increase in base rate.

Remortgaging costs add up to. So with a relatively small mortgage the actual saving on switching may not be that great.