Knowingly becoming a mortgage prisoner?

tain

My wife is 6 months into her maternity leave so needs to think about the next 3-6 months when she either goes back to work, or becomes a full time mum until her folks retire and can offer free childcare.

I've recently got a new job which means we have enough money to get by with just my salary coming in.

However, we're due to remortgage in October for the first time since we bought our home 2 years ago. If my wife doesn't go back to work, I doubt we will pass affordability checks, even with my increase salary.

If my wife does go back to work, the cost of childcare will eat away at most of what she earns, but she wouldn't be able to get the job she really wants because her parents aren't available for childcare until after our mortgage application so she would need to accept a part-time job just for us to remortgage.

Is this a straight forward 'tough luck really' situation, where she gets an interim job till our mortgage is in place? Or have I missed something?

Could we become a 'mortgage prisoner' until her parents take on the childcare, and just foot the extra cost for a short time? (I don't even know how severe the increase will be).

I don't even know what our options are or if any of the things I've said are even true. Could it be that we may pass affordability checks, but the bank won't lend us the money as our LTV isn't low enough for our total income?

tain

Is what I've described even considered a 'mortgage prisoner'?

ACG

Who is your current lender? You could switch products with them.

tain

ACG wrote: »

Who is your current lender? You could switch products with them.

Halifax. I've done searches on what they can offer (albeit far too early in the year), and they're not competitive compared to the best deals elsewhere. Initial calcs have them coming up £100-150 more expensive a month, and that's based on our current circumstances not our 'new' circumstances in October.

[Deleted User]

tain wrote: »

Is what I've described even considered a 'mortgage prisoner'?

It's very much a Daily Mail headline term, so you're probably able to apply it to whatever you want.

It's not a particularly useful phrase, as it masks your specific circumstances.

getmore4less

Halifax will cause you long term issues if you stay with them.

Why pick them in the first place?

they tier there rates to bigger mortgages so as you pay off the debt they be come less competitive.

tain

getmore4less wrote: »

Halifax will cause you long term issues if you stay with them.

Why pick them in the first place?

they tier there rates to bigger mortgages so as you pay off the debt they be come less competitive.

Do you want me to go back and change my initial mortgage?

getmore4less

Just understand why it may have been a mistake so you can avoid another one.

tain

getmore4less wrote: »

Just understand why it may have been a mistake so you can avoid another one.

I might have misunderstood how this relates to my question.

getmore4less

Engage a broker to try and place you with a better lender.

tain

So what I mentioned about affordability checks is irrelevant?