Barclays Application

lottie1987_2

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has recently been through the mortgage application process with Barclays/ Woolwich? If so any advice you could give would be really appreciated. I'm a first time buyer and have my first application on Tuesday.

Could anyone please tell me what questions they were asked by their advisor? How long the process took? Whether I need life insurance sorted prior to the meeting? Sorry if this has been asked a thousand times before, I'm just nervous about the whole thing!

Thank you in advance

ACG

You do not have to have life insurance at all. If you do want it you can do it with one of their advisors or a broker/ifa not with woolwich - chances are it will cost more in branch.

Application form - this might not be everything you will get asked but it will over most of it off.

I have not used Woolwich for 6 months or so. I am not a huge fan of their back office system and the fact you have to speak to people who do not speak English as a first language for something as complicated as a mortgage. But you will nothave to deal with either of those.

lottie1987_2

Thank you so much for your reply, it is most helpful. The application link is great, I can have a thorough look over this in the next few days. I am not using a broker so will have to do any chasing and their back office situation doesn't sound great but I suppose just something I will have to deal with as they currently have the offer I would like.

I'm hoping the application won't take as long as I've heard. I have an ok 28% deposit , no children, no car, no debt (aside from Student Loan) and nothing horrendous in my spending.

Out of interest do they look at your employment history rigorously? As I have been with the same company for a couple of years but recently has some time off (not sickness related or anything, just wanted a break) so my payslips only began again in April, the company has, however provided me with payslips for June, July and August as a kind of surety of my continued employment there. I never left the company but was just on a break for a while.

I'm just a bundle of nerves about the whole thing!

ACG

You can not provide future payslips, I would go as far as to say do NOT provide future payslips.

They will want 3 months payslips, April, May and June. They may ask for a P60 and they may question why your income last year was signicantly less than it should be but you can give them the answers they want but I doubt it will be a deal breaker.

If you bank with them, then they will definitely pick up on it.

lottie1987_2

Oh I asked the advisor on the phone and they didn't say that it would be a problem to provide the August payslip. I thought if anything it would show secure employment? I do have the P60 they requested and it does show my earnings to be less, but I can explain it as you say and I have a really healthy level of savings which I can show (enough to pay the mortgage for over a year) which I hope will be favourable. If you do not think that the break will be an issue that also sets my mind at rest.

I have an account with them but don't really use it, I have a current account with Santander which I have my pay put in to and is the account statements I was going to provide.

ACG

To me it says dodgy.
How can you have a future payslip? You do not know how much you will earn, you could be sick? You may opt in or out of a company pension scheme? Your contract may be altered.

You may find they just write to your an employer for a reference.

lottie1987_2

Oh right, I didn't really think of it that way, I can see where you're coming from. Not to worry then I will just provide the others. Would a letter from my employer be a good addition to take in then?

Dird

ACG wrote: »

To me it says dodgy.

And the obscurity of "taking a break" doesn't? If I was a MA in branch I'd be grilling for it and thinking "what if you get wonderlust next year?".

A few months going AWOL is pretty long if you weren't on sick...even if it was sick leave I'd be thinking to apply in 6 months when you've stabilised

lottie1987_2

Well I just took some time off before taking on a long term position with the company. I haven't done the travelling thing and wanted some time to myself, I did not have a mortgage to pay at the time nor any commitment to bills as I'm at home. I have a healthy bank balance so not having an income at that time wasn't an issue. It wasn't really wanderlust, I didn't run off to India for 6 months to find myself or travel. I don't holiday frequently and wanted a break, I didn't spend much on the time off and have proven to be responsible when it comes to any for of repayments so I don't think it should be a problem.

I was in a position where it was an option so I did it, I haven't done it before nor shall I again as I will have commitments. Delaying isn't really an option at this point as I have a property I am ready to move forward on.

ACG

Plenty of people go travelling/sabatical etc so no, taking time off does not sound dodgy.

lottie1987_2

Well perhaps I'm not most people! Nor am I a hippie, although I don't think a bit of travel constitutes this either.

I don't see why it's such an issue, years of stable employment and I took some time off without putting myself in to a financially precarious situation, I'd hardly think it's worth a "grilling" it's just what happened. The house has only just come up so I'm going for it, the point is I can put a good deposit down, have enough savings that if the worst came to worst and this "wanderlust" came back I could cover everything. My salary currently covers the mortgage and bills without issue.

Why do you think it's dodgy? What do you think I was up to?!