Proof of benefits - but don't have them YET!

Jim02

Hi,

My wife and I are separating and are selling our house. She has found another house she wants to buy in the village, so the kids can carry on at the same school. She's a relatively low earner, but I'm quite a high earner so as a family we don't get any benefits.

She has a mortgage agreed in principle, but before she can go forward the lender wants to see her bank statements as proof of benefits. Obviously she doesn't have this because we still nominally live at the same address; she's been going on what the GOV.UK site says she WILL be entitled to.

What are our options? Does she really have to wave goodbye to the house she's agreed the purchase of, and live in council housing (probably remote, so kids will have to change school etc.) for a time just so she can prove that she gets benefits?

Or do I have to move out and pay both our current mortgage and rent on somewhere else - I can't afford to do this.

Could really do with some good advice.

Thanks
Jim

ACG

I dont think any lender will accept what she will be entitled to in the future.
You should speak to the lender though to see what they say they will need if you can not evidence it on the bank statements.

Jim02

ACG wrote: »

I dont think any lender will accept what she will be entitled to in the future.
You should speak to the lender though to see what they say they will need if you can not evidence it on the bank statements.

I wonder if the best thing is to find a guarantor of the benefits until they actually kick in. I guess this would work?

tomtontom

Jim02 wrote: »

I wonder if the best thing is to find a guarantor of the benefits until they actually kick in. I guess this would work?

Do you mean a guarantor mortgage? This may work but will not be a short term option, and will mean a higher rate of interest - it's far from ideal.

Has she looked at renting privately? She may be entitled to housing benefits.

Is she certain of the benefits she will receive?

Soot2006

Does she really have to wave goodbye to the house she's agreed the purchase of, and live in council housing (probably remote, so kids will have to change school etc.) for a time just so she can prove that she gets benefits?

To be honest, if she has had an offer of housing from the council, then this sounds like an excellent solution?

Mortgage_Mark_2

Jim02 wrote: »

I wonder if the best thing is to find a guarantor of the benefits until they actually kick in. I guess this would work?

Guarantor mortgages are few and far between now.

Floxxie

She doesn't have to wait until she moves out to claim benefits in her own right.

Assuming that you are planning to divorce, it is best to sort out the finances and have them drawn up under a Consent Order, before selling up and buying another property.

ACG

No lender is going to accept a guarantor of benefits and guarantor mortgages as a whole are not really as big as they once were.

Jim02

So with all due respect to everybody, this is very depressing.

She has found a house and has agreed a purchase price. It's full steam ahead. Her lender wants proof of benefits. She doesn't receive them yet.

What I'm hearing is that our only real option is to let her house purchase go (unlikely to be another one any time soon in our village) and move into rented (unlikely to be in the village so kids would have to go to a different school - keeping them in the same school is the primary reason for finding a place in the same village).

Or go into Council housing (see above, kids have to move school).

We're planning to separate, not divorce at this point. I don't see how a consent order would give her lender confidence in her future benefits.

ACG

Have you tried any other lenders who can assess affordability differently?

Floxxie

Is there any reason why she cannot stay in the current house?