Fixed term contract and mortgage

Tryingtomoveout

Hi

I've been told by Halifax that they only consider applicants who have been on a fixed term contract for at least 1 year (with 6 months remaining on their contract).

I've been on a FTC for 9 months, due to be made permanent after another 5 months but not guaranteed.

My husband has a permanent contract.

I want to apply for a mortgage as soon as possible.

Does anyone know if any/which lenders would consider our employment situation?

Thanks for any help.

oli_ro

I am a contractor using an umbrella, some banks view this as fixed term contractor. From my experience
- there is no point going to banks directly, better use a broker
- prepare for your mortgage process to take much longer if they do find you a lender
- The promise to be made permanent is not really binding, so I don't see how lenders can use that. I think they are looking for renewal prospects which can be demonstrated with track record of previous renewals
- To get an idea, some banks(Nationwide for example) want to have been working using such arrangements for 12 months. (Google nationwide for "nationwide for intermediaries employment criteria")

These are my views and you should not put a lot of weight to them. I am sure one of the brokers who (very helpfully) contribute here regularly will have more informed opinions.

BTW, in my view, banks don't seem to like anything other than permanent employment these days, which is kind of weird as contractors are much more resilient to change in circumstances than permanent workers.
For example, consider a permanent worker doing HR work for a big corporation, doing the same job for 20 years, which is made redundant due to change of management. They have done the same job all their life. On the other extreme, take a person doing fixed term contracts and always adapting to the market, different client needs every 6 months.
Who has more risk of staying unemployed for long ?

Thrugelmir

Tryingtomoveout wrote: »

I've been on a FTC for 9 months, due to be made permanent after another 5 months but not guaranteed.

Not long to wait before then before you know where you stand.

Committing to a mortgage certainly isn't advisable under such circumstances.

Noctu

As another poster suggested, Nationwide are happy if you've been in your contract for 1 year.
(This might tie in nicely with the Spring rush of properties coming on to the market...)

OneEngland

What is your occupation?

tracey1302

OneEngland wrote: »

What is your occupation?

Sorry to hog someone else's thread here but as you are a mortgage adviser - may I ask your advice as I am in a similar situation to the OP.

I am a lecturer at Leeds University. I was appointed to my current position on a fixed term contract last January. This was at a 0.8 FTE contract @ £36,998. This contract ran six months. I was paid a smaller wage over the summer to account for the MA dissertations I was supervising over July, August and September. My original 0.8FTE contract was renewed in September of this year. Same salary scale (though a little higher as the scales naturally rise) The end date for my current contract is the end of May this year.

I have another job at another University which is paid on an hourly basis. This contract is good for 40 hours across the academic year at £45/hour. I have completed 20 hours of this contract so far and been paid for it accordingly. This runs again, until the end of May.

My credit score is good (954) and so is my partner's.

My partner has a full time permanent position at the Halifax. His salary is £20,500.

Do you think my salary will be able to be taken into account when we apply?

tvfreek

tracey1302 wrote: »

Sorry to hog someone else's thread here but as you are a mortgage adviser - may I ask your advice as I am in a similar situation to the OP.

I am a lecturer at Leeds University. I was appointed to my current position on a fixed term contract last January. This was at a 0.8 FTE contract @ £36,998. This contract ran six months. I was paid a smaller wage over the summer to account for the MA dissertations I was supervising over July, August and September. My original 0.8FTE contract was renewed in September of this year. Same salary scale (though a little higher as the scales naturally rise) The end date for my current contract is the end of May this year.

I have another job at another University which is paid on an hourly basis. This contract is good for 40 hours across the academic year at £45/hour. I have completed 20 hours of this contract so far and been paid for it accordingly. This runs again, until the end of May.

My credit score is good (954) and so is my partner's.

My partner has a full time permanent position at the Halifax. His salary is £20,500.

Do you think my salary will be able to be taken into account when we apply?

Yes second job in same profession as first shouldn't be an issue but probably a broker case.