Buying a house as a single applicant

OnlineAlex

Hello all,

I'm a new member although I have used the website and forum to find information for a long time.

Just over a month ago my partner left me after 6 years. We had just received a mortgage in principle from Halifax having saved for a deposit whilst living in rented. It was a shock but I'm ready to move on but feel I need to regain some control over the direction of my life.

My question is in regards to buying my own property as a single applicant. I'm very keen to save my half of the deposit and continue building on this. My parents have kindly offered me the use of their second home rent free to allow me to do this.

The difficulty I foresee is the amount of money I earn. At 17k pa I understand that this can limit the amount I can borrow significantly.

What I would really like is advice (and hopefully a little bit of hope) that I can own a home without needing a second applicant and how I could go about putting plans into motion to achieve this. For example, help to buy schemes or shared ownership? New builds or existing? 5% deposits?

I know it's going to be difficult and I'm happy to receive any advice. I live in Norwich if that helps. Happy to give examples of house prices if necessary.

Thank you,
Alex

Marvel1

OnlineAlex wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm a new member although I have used the website and forum to find information for a long time.

Just over a month ago my partner left me after 6 years. We had just received a mortgage in principle from Halifax having saved for a deposit whilst living in rented. It was a shock but I'm ready to move on but feel I need to regain some control over the direction of my life.

My question is in regards to buying my own property as a single applicant. I'm very keen to save my half of the deposit and continue building on this. My parents have kindly offered me the use of their second home rent free to allow me to do this.

The difficulty I foresee is the amount of money I earn. At 17k pa I understand that this can limit the amount I can borrow significantly.

What I would really like is advice (and hopefully a little bit of hope) that I can own a home without needing a second applicant and how I could go about putting plans into motion to achieve this. For example, help to buy schemes or shared ownership? New builds or existing? 5% deposits?

I know it's going to be difficult and I'm happy to receive any advice. I live in Norwich if that helps. Happy to give examples of house prices if necessary.

Thank you,
Alex

This would help.

I bought on my own back in 2007, earning less I think and house prices around here were about £70,000. I got mine for £65K, borrowed £58K, 10 years later coping just fine.

Polly05

Save as much as you can and buy somewhere cheap..

00ec25

how much have you now got as a deposit?

as you appreciate, the amount you can borrow is directly based on what you earn.

have you run the MSE calculator for what you can borrow? It indicates 77k as an upper limit http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/how-much-mortgage-borrowing

as for government schemes that may help you, read this:
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/help-to-buy-homebuy-and-other-housing-schemes

On only 17k income how much you spend on commuting costs will obviously make a big difference to where you can afford to buy. For example, based on your upper borrowing limit of 77k, there are only 2 properties within a 3 mile radius of "Norwich" in your price bracket after you exclude shared ownership, age restrictions and auction ones. Both are of course flats not houses, and both are in the (council?) tower block in Rouen Rd, so may have limited numbers of willing lenders for them.

always_sunny

OnlineAlex wrote: »

The difficulty I foresee is the amount of money I earn. At 17k pa I understand that this can limit the amount I can borrow significantly.

Unless you have a super good credit rating, borrowing more than 4/5 times your annual wage won't be easy. Do the math and look accordingly.

ReadingTim

It's not completely impossible, but you don't have many options which aren't shared ownership. The opportunity to live rent free and increase your deposit is a good one, but as you said, the real limiting factor is your income.

It might therefore be a more productive use of your time and energy to focus on finding a better paying job rather than looking for a property at this time.

Lurkingtoposting17

First piece of advice from someone who was in your position: Save, save, save and work towards getting a job and upskilling yourself, that will help you borrow more. It takes time, but buying a property isn't something you should rush anyway and sounds like you have an option of where to go whilst you do this


I am not a FTB as I had a mortgage a few years ago, and I have an excellent credit rating. My mortgage broker could only find 1 seller who would give me a 5 x salary mortgage, and this has now been removed and the best we can now find is 4.75x salary mortgage (also not for FTB) if I was a FTB, the best my broker can find is 4.5x salary.

Sometimes different brokers give different options but for the most part.

Shared ownership could be an option, you would still need a deposit and resales and new builds are usually popular but you would only be getting a mortgage on a % (I had 25% share when I earned £21k) not for everyone but gives you a foot on property ladder.

HTB is only on new build properties, you would be eligible as first time buyer but depends what is for sale where you are, sometimes new builds come with a premium price tag, so though you are getting a percentage paid for, resale properties can be better value.

Stuff changes all the time, so do your research and keep researching whilst you save. Understand property market where you want to live, the new builds going up you might consider, the schemes the government has and brings in (do you have a help to buy isa?!)

You will get there, patience is the key.

Yue

Just to give you my experience as a single buyer since I was in a similar situation - I saved up a 30K deposit by living with my parents while working. In 2015 my income was about 18K, and I was able to buy a flat for £115K with a mortgage, no shared ownership. Mortgage payments are £320 per month, while the flat above me rents for £650 per month, so it was definitely worth buying in my case. I live in one of the most expensive areas of the country so it's definitely possible if you can save.

stator

When you have enough money there might not be any schemes.
Save up until you can afford the mortgage.
Use the online calculators to work out how much banks would lend you based on your income, then adjust your expectations accordingly.
I know of people who are obsessed with getting a house in the right area but they can't afford it. They keep going to the bank, but their income isn't high enough to get a mortgage given the price of the house. They will only be able to afford it when the LTV is < 50% so they are saving like mad, but also paying rent. They would be better off buying something small in the wrong area and at least then they are paying off the mortgage and not rent and this would help them eventually live where they want.

kingstreet

Lurkingtoposting17 wrote: »

HTB is only on new build properties, you would be eligible as first time buyer but depends what is for sale where you are, sometimes new builds come with a premium price tag, so though you are getting a percentage paid for, resale properties can be better value.

HTB is not limited to FTBs. Anyone who will only own that one property from completion can use it when purchasing a newbuild.

The Government's HTB affordability calculator often produces a lower output than a lender's.

It's worth bearing in mind the cost of the equity loan will reduce the mortgage borrowing power, as will any ground rent & service charges.

dalehitchy

OnlineAlex wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm a new member although I have used the website and forum to find information for a long time.

Just over a month ago my partner left me after 6 years. We had just received a mortgage in principle from Halifax having saved for a deposit whilst living in rented. It was a shock but I'm ready to move on but feel I need to regain some control over the direction of my life.

My question is in regards to buying my own property as a single applicant. I'm very keen to save my half of the deposit and continue building on this. My parents have kindly offered me the use of their second home rent free to allow me to do this.

The difficulty I foresee is the amount of money I earn. At 17k pa I understand that this can limit the amount I can borrow significantly.

What I would really like is advice (and hopefully a little bit of hope) that I can own a home without needing a second applicant and how I could go about putting plans into motion to achieve this. For example, help to buy schemes or shared ownership? New builds or existing? 5% deposits?

I know it's going to be difficult and I'm happy to receive any advice. I live in Norwich if that helps. Happy to give examples of house prices if necessary.

Thank you,
Alex

Surprised no one has asked you this.... But what area are you in? You may maybe afford a house at 90k but if you in an expensive area you won't be able to get anything...