Getting a mortgage in the South East

henrygregory

Really looking for some good advice here as not sure what to do...

I have used the helpful mortgage pages on this site, although I do find most of the examples prices and figures a little out of touch.

I live in the South East, close to Stansted Airport and in-between Cambridge (where my partner is a nurse) and London where I work in IT.

I have around £50k saved as a deposit, we are currently renting and looking to have our first child.

The majority of three bedroom homes in our area are upwards of £350k and based on the information provided on the MSE Mortgage Calculator, we would be lucky to get an upper mortgage of 152,500 - £214,000. This is based on both of our salaries.
Does this sound about right? If so, this is not going to get us anywhere near the figures property in the area is going for.

We are looking for a three bed as I also do quite a lot of work from home and need a reasonable sized quiet area to do what I need to do. We are not looking at re-locating as we are going to use my mother to look after our children, allowing us to both continue with our jobs and earn money.

Any suggestions, advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

The only viable Help to Buy properties available at the moment are both small 2 bed properties with £360k asking prices. On the open market, we could get an older three bed for the same cost.

Kynthia

You want to buy a home that's bigger than you can afford in an area that you can't afford. People in that situation either:
Wait until they earn more.
Buy something much smaller and cheaper.
Buy in a cheaper area and commute.
Completely relocate to a cheaper area and get jobs there.
Wait and save a much bigger deposit or get gifted money to help.
Use some kind of assistance scheme like shared ownership.
Rent and don't buy.

I can't think of any other options.

Canary_Yellow

The MSE calculator is very conservative.


I've just put my salary details and my wife's details in and it says we can borrow £300k - £420k. In actual fact Santander would agree to lend us, in principle, about £600k (not that we would ever borrow that).


Go to the Santander for intermediaries calculator and put some detailed numbers in and see what comes out.

wjr4

How much do you both earn?

henrygregory

Kynthia wrote: »

You want to buy a home that's bigger than you can afford in an area that you can't afford. People in that situation either:
Wait until they earn more. - Not sure I am going to get any more. I work in public sector and am already stretching what they are willing to pay me. Have gone for some private sector positions, but no luck yet.
Buy something much smaller and cheaper. - We have looked at this, but tbh would rather rent. What is the point in owning somewhere which is far too small for your needs? My suggestion was to maybe buy somewhere I can afford (even if it is too small) and rent it straight out. Would this be a sensible option?
Buy in a cheaper area and commute. - my commute is between 1.5 and 2 hrs each way and a 110 mile round trip, can't get much further out than this or I will become ill.
Completely relocate to a cheaper area and get jobs there. - We had considered it, but ideally would like my family to help to raise our children whilst we both work.
Wait and save a much bigger deposit or get gifted money to help. My parents own nothing and live in council accommodation. I have furiously saved for the last 12 years of my adult life and have done well to get the 50k I have whilst renting and paying bills, I am not going to get any more than this.
Use some kind of assistance scheme like shared ownership. I have spent considerable time looking at this, but I am not convinced it offers the best value. Most of the properties they sell are on the top end of what you would consider a fair asking price. We could buy a smaller share, but I think I would prefer looking at buying a property and renting it out so at least I know in the future we would have somewhere fully paid for we could retire to.
Rent and don't buy. - Another sensible option, though I am not sure it would prove so cost effective in the long run as we are spending quite a lot of our money in non-returnable rent payments which we will never see again. I always thought of renting as a more temporary safe option. Handy whilst you are looking for somewhere more permanent, though, in our area, at the current time, it is more cost effective in terms of monthly outgoings.

I can't think of any other options.

Thanks for taking the time to suggest

henrygregory

rjw4 wrote: »

How much do you both earn?

£40k and £22k, a combined amount of £62k.
When I use mortgage calculators on the websites I bank with, they make it sound quite affordable with monthly repayments of around £1200 per month on a £375k property with a 50k deposit.

But when I use calculators on MSE or the Money Advice Service - which I would prefer to trust, it tends to suggest this may not be possible.

wjr4

henrygregory wrote: »

£40k and £22k, a combined amount of £62k.
When I use mortgage calculators on the websites I bank with, they make it sound quite affordable with monthly repayments of around £1200 per month on a £375k property with a 50k deposit.

But when I use calculators on MSE or the Money Advice Service - which I would prefer to trust, it tends to suggest this may not be possible.

We have a combined income of £53k (approx. as some is overtime) and just borrowed £245k with Nationwide.. how much debt (if any) do you both have and fixed outgoings? Whereabouts in London do you work? I'm just thinking of ways that you can still live close to where you live now but without extending your travel time (I'm from Essex so know the area)

henrygregory

rjw4 wrote: »

We have a combined income of £53k (approx. as some is overtime) and just borrowed £245k with Nationwide.. how much debt (if any) do you both have and fixed outgoings? Whereabouts in London do you work? I'm just thinking of ways that you can still live close to where you live now but without extending your travel time (I'm from Essex so know the area)

Ok that is interesting. We have no debt at all. I am in Tower Hamlets, and we live quite close to Stansted airport at present. My partner needs to be able to travel to Cambridge as she works at the hospital there and works very unsociable hours, so can't be driving for along time to get there.

wjr4

What about Bishop's Stortford?

wjr4

It really depends what you are looking for as I just had a quick look on Rightmove around the M11 area and there are quite a few houses in your budget that look nice to me?

chelseablue

We earn £58,000 combined and recently borrowed £230,000 from Halifax


They said they would lend £244,000 max, and that's with paying £760 a month childcare bill


Without the childcare it probably would have been more