Much better offer from Halifax than Natwest.... why?

Legacy_user

Greetings,

I am a first-time buyer and today I enquired with two banks regarding mortgage options for the first time: Halifax and Natwest, making it very clear to both that I was not committing just yet.

Natwest offered circa £140,000 worth of mortgage, and Halifax £160,000; £20,000 more. Given the difference, is the latter too good to be true? Or is the Natwest offer actually bad in comparison? Are such differences in mortgage offers normal?

I should also add that Halifax put me straight onto a Mortgage adviser with 27 years of experience who did a much more thorough check taking over an hour. The guy from Natwest was a 'Senior Personal Banker' in his 20s (perhaps 30s) and I was in and out in 20 minutes. I wondered if the differences here might explain the difference in offer, but the difference seems big to me nonetheless.

kingstreet

IME NatWest will usually lend more than Halifax.

About two hundred affordability calculations in the last twelve months testify to that.

If you speak to a broker, you'll find out that neither NatWest nor Halifax often has the best product.

I'm an independent broker with 33 years experience of different lenders and their criteria.

System

Thanks, although to be honest that doesn't really answer my question. What I want to know if it normal for deals to vary my such amounts, or even greater? Or is it possible that I or one or both the banks missed something?

Royster82

To answer your question, different banks and different lenders have different stipulations/circumstances regarding the loan amounts and how much they are willing to offer an individual... no one person is the same as once you get your AIP everyone is different.

amnblog

There are so many ways for these calculations to be miss handled that your question is impossible to answer.

I can tell you that I concour with Kingstreet. Nat West will generally be a little more generous than Halifax. Marginally, if there are no outgoings, more so if there are loans and other outgoings to be maintained.

For example a borrower with £33,700 income and no other lending may raise £160,000 with Halifax and about £163,400 with Nat West.

One of the two people you have seen probably has it wrong. A broker is likely to get it right with both calculations.

missmoose

In my experience it's normal Barclays would lend us £50,000 but Halifax £160,000

David_White

Every lender will have their own methods of calculating what you can borrow.

I agree with the above that NatWest typically offer more than Halifax however each case has its own quirks.

The real question is how much do you need to borrow, £140k or £160k?

Thrugelmir

Thanks, although to be honest that doesn't really answer my question. What I want to know if it normal for deals to vary my such amounts, or even greater? Or is it possible that I or one or both the banks missed something?

Lending is a little more complex than say selling cans of baked beans. Not simply a question of piling em and selling em cheap. A number of commercial factors will behind the rationale of individual lenders.

Xyzzy

it is normal for there to be a bit of variation, the different lenders will apply different weight to different factors/income and different calculations There is always the possibility that there has been a slight mistake one one of them, however I would expect the Halifax one to be fairly accurate given that you spoke to an actual Mortgage Advisor. The other chap would have offered you a none advised service and would pass you onto a Mortgage Advisor should you proceed, who will then check through your details. As a side note, other comments are correct- neither is likely to be the best value on the market if you shop around, sites like this are good for giving you an idea of what's available and what's competitive.

ellison007

I had a similar experience, I did an AIP with both NatWest & Halifax. The latter offered to lend my wife & I much more even tho' the EXACT same income, monthly outgoings etc. were keyed in. Halifax said we didn't need to access the help to buy 20% equity loan scheme to afford the house we want, NatWest said we did.


I saw a mortgage advisor at both banks; I must say that NatWest have been excellent in terms of answering any follow up clarification questions; Halifax too. I like the assurance of dealing directly with a bank however, mortgage brokers are the go to people in my opinion. They know much more than we do simply due to the fact that they help 100's of customers. It's tempting to be autonomous and independent but, for such a large purchase, it's beneficial to ask for some help.


Best of luck

System

Thanks all. Now that you mention it Ellison, although NatWest didn't day I'd need to use the equity loan option, they seemed like they really wanted me to (I didn't want to because I don't want to be constrained to new builds). NatWest also wanted me to pay a higher deposit, but Halifax were more flexible in this.

I also remembered that one question Halifax asked that NatWest didn't was how much student loan I have left to pay (and not just how much I pay per month). Because I was one of the last years to pay 1k a year for tuition fees, I only have 9k (just under 10 years of debt) left on that.... not much compared to what those who graduated later than me have left! So wondering if that worked in my favour.

Nonetheless, I'm hearing a lot of love for mortgage brokers, so will definitely consider this too. Thanks everyone!