First time buyer - wife recently gone self employed

jhnry

Hi all,
First time poster here on the MSE forums, though I have lurked for a while...

My wife and I are looking to buy our first house in the next 6 months. My wife has gone self-employed less than a year ago, and as I understand her self-employed income is unlikely to be regarded by lenders for any mortgage we apply for.

My question is - as my sole income is likely to be used for determining the maximum value of the mortgage we can get, will lenders only regard my incomings/outgoings and credit history when determining mortgage value, or will they still look at my wife's info as we share accounts etc on our credit files? Also would the liability for the mortgage solely rest on me?

Thanks for your help, J.

ACG

Do you plan on putting your wifes name on the application?
She can still go on the application, you just can not use her income.

jhnry

Yes, we'd plan to have both our names on the application. So does that mean liability would fall on both of us and they would check both of our credit histories?

ACG

If you are both on the application both of your credit reports would be checked and both of your commitments would be taken in to account. You would both be solely and equally liable for the debt - ie if one of you did not pay, the other person would have to make the repayments in full.

If you solely apply, then your wifes credit may be taken in to account (financial associates) but her commitments would probably not be taken in to account. The mortgage repayments would be 100% down to you. Not many lenders will do sole applications for married couples though.

jhnry

Thanks ACG, that's a great help.