Finding a mortgage that accepts PhDs as an income

littlepolarbear

Hi,

My partner and I are looking to get on to the housing market. They are in full time employment and I am a full time PhD student. I am currently in my first year and have a total of four years of funding. We are having problems finding a mortgage as most don't take my stipend as a form of income. We have been to several brokers and banks most of which will not take my income into account. Some do take a percentage of my income the maximum we have found is 60% although it still assumed I pay tax even though I don't.

Any suggestions of lenders or banks that may have a mortgage available for our circumstances? Or any stories of people that have successfully got a mortgage whilst being a student?

Many Thanks for your time and advise

Vohamanah

My partner is doing a PhD and NatWest accepted his stipend as income and approved us for a mortgage. We used a broker who told us he could only find 5 lenders who would accept it, so choices were limited but we had a smooth ride with the application through NatWest.

The first broker we went to (after asking a lot of questions which showed she had no idea what a PhD stipend was) advised us there were no lenders that would accept it and our only options were to wait another 3 years or apply on my income alone. So don't give up

littlepolarbear

We have been to a few brokers and none so far have mentioned Natwest at all, so thanks I will look into them and hopefully they can help. Can I ask if they took his whole stipend into account or a percentage and how long ago this was? Also who were the other lenders that you could of got mortgage with if you remember?

Thanks, I really hope we get there. Seems silly to be paying rent instead of paying off a mortgage and having our own place.

DaftyDuck

30 years ago, Cambridge Building Society were, unsurprisingly I suppose, up for this. Mind you, the financial and housing market were just a little different, and it's probably as relevant as a quill pen is for sending a message.

I'm feeling old....

Rosemary7391

Mine is with Halifax, I'm the only person on the mortgage and my stipend is my only income. As far as I'm aware they treated it just like any other income.

nkkingston

Our broker told us there were 12 who took it, some wholly, some in part. We've gone with Halifax too. My partner's just started his second year. They did ask for evidence of the stipend being paid, so depending where you are in your first year you may want to wait until you can evidence the stipend being paid regularly.

I'm concerned you're going to brokers who are telling you no one does, when clearly there are. I assume what they mean is "no one who pays me anything for getting you a mortgage with them" does. Make sure you find someone who is whole of market, not linked to a bank or estate agent. We went with L&C, who I know have a reputation for only being good for straightforward applications, but worked for us.

bouicca21

Daffy Duck was lucky, I couldn't get anyone to accept my stipend; ended up saving it for deposit instead, whilst paying rent that was of course far more than the supposedly unaffordable mortgage repayments.

pmlindyloo

This is what Natwest says about stipends

http://intermediary.natwest.com/downloads/natwest/NatWestAcceptableIncomeTypes.pdf

Rosemary7391

bouicca21 wrote: »

Daffy Duck was lucky, I couldn't get anyone to accept my stipend; ended up saving it for deposit instead, whilst paying rent that was of course far more than the supposedly unaffordable mortgage repayments.

I do get fed up with institutions with that attitude. Practically, It's no different to having a fixed term contract. And they don't take into account the lack of tax/council tax paid, so it's already a bit easier to manage than on the same amount of salary.

bouicca21

Admittedly in the days when I did my PhD dinosaurs had only recently ceased to roam the earth. One would have thought things would be different now, unless OP is studying a subject with poor job prospects.

Vohamanah

littlepolarbear wrote: »

We have been to a few brokers and none so far have mentioned Natwest at all, so thanks I will look into them and hopefully they can help. Can I ask if they took his whole stipend into account or a percentage and how long ago this was? Also who were the other lenders that you could of got mortgage with if you remember?

They accepted 100%, and we completed in December. My partner was the second applicant on our joint application.

I'm not sure who the other lenders were, our broker wouldn't tell us in case went to them directly I guess