Refused Barclay's Mortgage?

Sixbynine

Hello,
Hoping someone could shed some light on this for me before I go bank into the back to get narky with them...

I'll simplify the figures a bit but essentially we currently have a mortgage of around £250k (property worth £350k) monthly repayments of £1000.

We're looking to move to an offset (we have the savings etc in place and know there is more being released from various sources in the next year ) so we applied to Barclays.

Spent a couple hours on the phone, gave her all my paperwork etc and got turned down on the grounds her computer says we're 'short' £130 per month.

She's taking into account credit card bills that are paid off fully every month (and have been for almost 10 years now) and currently contain expenses such as 'a three week holiday' and 'a friends wedding' - obviously one off things that we are NOT paying for regularly and things I've bought online for my granddad he has paid me back for.

On top of this the product we're looking at has monthly repayments of £800 = £200 less than what we're currently paying!

I'm really struggling to understand how they're reaching this conclusion. Since we are clearly affording our current mortgage so £200 less should be easy?

The woman said 'they don't take the product into account' which seem stupid as what mortgage you apply for massively affects how much you're paying per month and therefore whether you can afford it?

I then sarcastically asked if we could not use our credit card for 3 months, get someone else to pay for all our stuff then resubmit the application with 'zero'd' cards to pass then go back to using them.

She said this was fine. They're basically encouraging applicants to lie and hide their true circumstances....it's insane.

I'm currently considering 3 options:
1) the above, not using the cards and reapplying. It means briefly converting to what our current providers normal rate is
2)going into a Barclays branch and hoping for someone more useful to discuss this with
3)moving all our banking away from Barclays to another lender that will give us the mortage we want.

Just wondering if anyone's had any similar experiences with Barclays' or could explain how I can get my points across to them and walk away with the mortgage I want.
Or can weigh in on which of those 3 options is likely to be the best.

Thrugelmir

Sixbynine wrote: »

On top of this the product we're looking at has monthly repayments of £800 = £200 less than what we're currently paying!

I'm really struggling to understand how they're reaching this conclusion. Since we are clearly affording our current mortgage so £200 less should be easy?

Lenders are required to assess on a what if basis. Not what interest rates are today but if they reached 5.5% for example. Mortgage interest rates are going to remain low indefinately. Now that BOE support schemes are starting to be withdrawn.

haras_nosirrah

I am confused by some of your post. I use barclays all the time and one off expenses aren't on their affordability calculator. Obviously I don't have all your info to check it but have you considered a broker?

butterflybook

I agree with Haras, one off expenses are not usually taken in to account - If there is a balance on a credit card at the time of application you can state that this will be repaid before completion which if you repay them monthly in full that would be the case.

haras_nosirrah

on their calculator are loans, credit cards (which you can put as to be repaid) council tax, childcare - from memory I think that is it unless on the htb or shared ownership scheme.

A holiday certainly doesn't feature into their affordability. Either you have misunderstood or you need to speak to someone else not connected with the bank

haras_nosirrah

just re read and the holiday is on the credit card so giving a higher than normal balance- if you clear the card in full just put it will be repaid on completion. They will then not take that commitment into account

Sixbynine

I repeatedly told her it would be paid in full. It was a one off expense and this had never been taken into account before.

She said they'd 'tightened their lending regulations' which makes sense... What doesn't make sense is what they've chosen to be picky about...

I am not sure a broker would be able to help since we want an offset mortgage specifically with barclays (as that's where we do our banking and where the savings for the offset are held)?

Given the opinion seems to be she's wrong about focusing so much on our credit cards is it worth talking to come one else?

haras_nosirrah

We brokers can help with offset mortgages - Part of what we do is advocate for our clients and make sure the paperwork is filled out correctly

haras_nosirrah

I have just had an offer for a barclays case where they are first time buyers clearing 17k of debt (from gift) - they have asked for a gift letter and the money to be put into their accounts prior to releasing the offer.

In a case like yours they may want evidence you have the money to clear the credit card but that should be it

Sixbynine

Cool, well I'll try speaking to barclays again see if I can get somewhere with a different person who might understand better. If not maybe we'll look at using a broker.

getmore4less

did you tell them how much you would be offsetting and was that a high amount?