Mortgage advice

credit_questions1

Hi All,

I am a 33 year old divorcee who has never owned a home. I earn £60k annually and have a couple of small loans I am paying off for car etc. and also a student loan which will be paid off in a few years. My credit score is a few points off "excellent".
I rent with my 37 yr old partner who earns £35k annually + commission and bonuses. He has owned before but due to the recession he lost all equity in his home which was sold when he divorced his wife. He also has a CCJ on his credit file (he got into a bit of a pickle with his finances!!) which is 4 years old so his credit rating is very poor. He has no other outstanding debts and is on top of his finances.

We currently rent a 4 bed house in the South East UK for £1400 per month and have 3 children between us.

Because our outgoings are high, we can live comfortably but struggle to save the huge amount needed to eventually buy a house.

The facts in summary:
Me: 60k, excellent credit score, FTB
Him: 35k, bad credit score, owned before

Average 4 bed house price to buy in our area: £400k.

I am desperate to own a house but we feel like this is just never going to be a possibility due to not being able to save the massive deposit we need for a big enough house for all of us and his credit score.

I could do with any advice at all on how we get out of renting and into buying. Can I buy on my credentials alone? How long is his credit score likely to affect our chances of buying? Any other advice?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

chelseablue

How much do you have saved at the moment?


I live in the South East too so I understand how high prices are, we've just paid £400k for a 3 bed semi

credit_questions1

Hi chesleablue,

Seems you can sympathise with my opinion of the house prices in this area

We have little saved yet but may be able to get some help from family for a deposit. My salary increased from £30k to 60k in Jan after moving jobs so its really only now that I feel in a stronger position to start saving and want to look at options and have a plan in mind. We just feel hopeless and that there are no options if my partners credit score is always going to be an issue.

Thank you!

AnotherJoe

Dont take this the wrong way but you earn £95k/year between you, lets say £70k a year after tax, plus child benefit x3, pay out £17k in rent, leaving £53k a year or nearly £4,500 a month after accommodation, yet you cant save and think its "hopeless"?
I think there are a few people around who'd like to be in that position !

If you spent half that and saved the other half, in a year you could save £27,000 which is 5% deposit, with serious saving you could have 10% deposit in 18 months.

Start with a budget plan, as simple as a bit of paper and just write down income and outgoings. Lots of folk on the DFW board who can help. You must be losing a lot of money somewhere if you arent awash at the end of every month.

Lokolo

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Dont take this the wrong way but you earn £95k/year between you, lets say £70k a year after tax, plus child benefit x3, pay out £17k in rent, leaving £53k a year or nearly £4,500 a month after accommodation, yet you cant save and think its "hopeless"?

Ignoring the rest, but can the OP get child benefit if they earn voer £50k? I thought you couldn't get it if one of you earns over that amount.

chelseablue

We normally save £1,200 a month.

credit_questions1

Hi AnotherJoe,

We are indeed in a good position after 4 years of struggling with much much lower income.

It would be lovely to think we have £4500 after accommodation but after bills, commuting expenses, (I work in London), my partners child maintenance, childcare (£1,100 per month) and food costs we are left with a lot less!

the "hopeless" comment was related to my partners extremely bad credit history which counts heavily towards our chances of getting a mortgage even if we were to save a decent sized deposit.

Thanks,

Sophie

credit_questions1

Lokolo wrote: »

Ignoring the rest, but can the OP get child benefit if they earn voer £50k? I thought you couldn't get it if one of you earns over that amount.

You are right, we don't get child benefit anymore!