Transfer of Ownership - Halifax

Calsa67

Call back from Halifax today. Due to the time that has elapsed from my initial assessment to now, the system has me down as a fail on affordability.

My circumstances have not changed in anyway and the adviser is unable to offer an explanation as to why this is. All they suggested was to wait until December and attempt again.

Surely there must be some way of determining why it's coming up with a fail now compared to August when it was deemed affordable.

Does anybody have a similar experience?

Goldiegirl

Their affordability models do change from time to time, and the staff don't know what the changes are, as this sort of thing is very confidential. To be honest, I'm not sure why they are suggesting to wait until December, as there's no way the advisor would know if anything will change by then. Perhaps it'd be an idea to speak to an independent advisor, who'll be able to look at your information, and see if there's another lender who you could remortgage to.

Calsa67

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Their affordability models do change from time to time, and the staff don't know what the changes are, as this sort of thing is very confidential. To be honest, I'm not sure why they are suggesting to wait until December, as there's no way the advisor would know if anything will change by then. Perhaps it'd be an idea to speak to an independent advisor, who'll be able to look at your information, and see if there's another lender who you could remortgage to.

Thanks again, Goldiegirl. I thought it was strange myself.

I appreciate the credit scoring is complex and there's no way of determining why an application would fail. I was under the impression that Halifax was one of the more accessible lenders so I'm struggling to think why I would be accepted elsewhere.

I'm looking to borrow £85k on a £100k property, earning £26,500. No late payments, defaults or any other adverse credit history. Current credit agreements extend to £2800 for a car loan and £1700 on an interest free credit card. I spoke with a mortgage advisor at the start of this process and they felt it would be pretty straightforward...

knightley

I'm no expert but I think it's your loan and your debt levels - they aren't high but not low either, given your income. Is there any way to pay off that credit card and then reapply?

Calsa67

Yeah, I've said I'll do that and see if it makes a difference. Just surprised it would be the deciding factor now when it wasn't when I first done the affordability check.

Thrugelmir

Calsa67 wrote: »

Yeah, I've said I'll do that and see if it makes a difference. Just surprised it would be the deciding factor now when it wasn't when I first done the affordability check.

Lenders tighten and relax their rules in line with market conditions and regulatory guidance. Nothing is ever set in stone.

Thrugelmir

Calsa67 wrote: »

I'm looking to borrow £85k on a £100k property, earning £26,500. No late payments, defaults or any other adverse credit history. Current credit agreements extend to £2800 for a car loan and £1700 on an interest free credit card. I spoke with a mortgage advisor at the start of this process and they felt it would be pretty straightforward...

Sounds as if money is tight though.

My only concern is I'm now in my agree overdraft which I was hoping to avoid until there had been a decision made, but just need to wait and see.

Lenders will base affordability on 7% interest rates. Not today's low levels. As they are not going to remain this low for ever.

Calsa67

I made note of the overdraft when speaking to the adviser and she updated the change in her system. That's why I am so confused...are there two different affordability scoring systems?

I should clarify, I am not actually in my overdraft at the moment, I will be by the end of the month, however at my initial appointment back in August, I didn't have an overdraft facility set-up on my account.

Long story short, following the separation I have transferred a lot of direct debits to my own account from the joint account. I've essentially shifted the overdraft facility to my personal account, too. There is a healthy four figure balance in the joint account as well but I'm cautious to remove the money at the moment in case there are any issues with the Direct debits (as I have experienced in the past).

Completely understand where you are coming from, though, just don't feel it's been communicated very well from the adviser.

Calsa67

Cleared the credit card debt and received my offer earlier this week - delighted is an understatement:beer:

Goldiegirl

Well done- glad it's worked out