First Time Buyer- joint application English + Foreign National EU

Strus

Dear All,

We are looking to buy our first property with the Help to Buy Equity Loan.
The property is valued at £289,00.
We have 18k deposit and with the government loan (20% of the property value) this would increase to £75,800.

First applicant income: 44,500 (with 10% not guaranteed salary bonus) - 8k debt on credit cards (repaying more than minimum payment each month)
Second: 25,000 (with 10% not guaranteed salary bonus) - 5k debt on credit cards

Is it reasonable of us to think we might get approved for £214k mortgage?

I have banked with HSBC for 10 years and had agreement in principle for 150k. Now we re-considered our options and want to buy a new build, hence the increase in the mortgage.

I am also foreign national (Polish) my partner is English.

Our current rent is at £950 per month.

Both have good credit history,

May i kindly us for your opinion if we are likely to get accepted?

I tried to research the affordability criteria but did not find anything.

Thank you in advance for any information provided!

dustywarrior

I would say you have a chance, but the debt will turn some lenders away. Do you have a good mortgage advisor? This would be your first step. Whereabouts are you based in the country?

Strus

Thank you Dustywarrior,

We are based in Kent, however looking to buy in Norfolk. Have not spoken to any brokers/advisor yet.
Did not want to spend any money on advisory services as I would rather pay the credit cards off quicker

dustywarrior

No problem,

some advisors work on commision only. I.e, they will advise you free of charge and get commision from the lender. Others charge a small fee (a few hundred pounds maybe). Personally I think it's definitely worth while doing, as there are so many options out there and a good advisor will instantly know which lenders will turn you down and so you won't have to waste any time applying with those.

jonny_power

a whole of market broker who will take their commission from the lender is definitely worth finding, you don't pay a penny but they'll be able to safe a lot of time, effort and grief.

Strus

I think the main question is: do we stand the chance at all?

Does my nationality matter to the bank or not?

Can you recommend any good advisor/broker please?

Thank you

jonny_power

Strus wrote: »

I think the main question is: do we stand the chance at all?

Does my nationality matter to the bank or not?

Can you recommend any good advisor/broker please?

Thank you

How long have you been in the UK? As long as you've been here a reasonable amount of time I doubt that there should be any issues, because you'll have a clear credit history (assuming you also have a UK bank account and a permanent job). But again, a good broker will be able to help you get these things in shape and look at your affordability.

I don't think you're looking at an unreasonable amount to borrow, but I think your unsecured debt might put off some of the more conservative lenders.

Strus

I have been in the UK for 10 years, all this time in full time employment with my current company, have been banking with HSBC for all this time too.

I am looking to pay off half of my credit card debt by the time we submit the application for mortgage. I just wanted to have a reality check and perhaps some tips in terms of brokers/advisor.

HSBC seems to have good rates and I can't help but wonder if it is worth applying directly to them.

Thanks for your replies so far.

jonny_power

Strus wrote: »

I have been in the UK for 10 years, all this time in full time employment with my current company, have been banking with HSBC for all this time too.

I am looking to pay off half of my credit card debt by the time we submit the application for mortgage. I just wanted to have a reality check and perhaps some tips in terms of brokers/advisor.

HSBC seems to have good rates and I can't help but wonder if it is worth applying directly to them.

Thanks for your replies so far.

All sounds sensible.

No reason why you can't go to HSBC and chat in branch with someone who'll plug numbers into a computer and give you an idea. Being a customer with HSBC might help, but to be honest we bank with HSBC and they turned down our FTB mortgage application (which went through with Santander). General feeling is that HSBC are hard to borrow from.

dustywarrior

I don't know any advisors in your area Strus, but if you head over to unbiased.co.uk you can search for one local to you.

jonny_power

dustywarrior wrote: »

I don't know any advisors in your area Strus, but if you head over to unbiased.co.uk you can search for one local to you.

Yeah my broker tends to only deal will people in the city (he only did ours because I know him personally, and this was after the HSBC issue).

A personal recommendation from someone at work is a good idea if you don't know someone.