Remortgage (additional borrowing) on maternity leave

shinypenny

We have a £125k tracker mortgage on a £205k house withBritannia with an 18 year term. Earlier this year we got 'permission inprinciple' for extra borrowing of £10k but didn't go through with the fullapplication due to a delay with Planning Permission. This was also before Ifound out I was pregnant.

Baby is due in late January and my maternity pay is 6 weeksat 90% of pay, 12 weeks at half and 21 weeks on SMP. Both my other half and Iearn between £30-35k per annum and I plan on returning to work 4 days a weekafter 10 months - including accrued annual leave.
Council Tax band E, no outstanding credit cards / loans. Usual monthly gas/elec/insurance/car/grocery costs.
We were hoping to start the building work in May/June nextyear, but I'm a little concerned how me being on maternity leave will affectour ability to remortgage. We'd ideally now like to borrow an additional £12k.

Are we going to have to wait until I return to work and havea 'proper' salary, albeit with childcare costs of £600/month before we approachBritannia for a decision, or should we ask for additional borrowing now, beforemy take-home pay nosedives!?

kingstreet

If you are asking your existing lender for additional borrowing, I'm not sure anyone will be able to answer this. Britannia is direct-only, so brokers are unlikely to be able to help.

You are hoping for someone in the same boat since the Co-op takeover seeing this, so it may be quicker to call the lender and ask.

ri17

My baby is due xmas day and it did cause a bit of a ball ache in the application process but we have been approved. They wanted

Proof I was going back to work on the same hours afterwards - letter
Proof of what maternity id receive - letter
Proof of savings to cover my salary while on maternity

They have also taken the childcare costs into consideration as they would normal bills. It is do-able x

shinypenny

Thanks for your responses.
Ri, did you apply before going on maternity leave, or during? I know the process can take a few months, but we don't need the additional cash until at least May but I'm planning on not going back to work after the Xmas break.

ri17

We applied Sept, approved Oct and I start mat leave mid Dec x