Bluestone Mortgages

alynos74

ACG said:

JoeyKez said:

Thanks @ACG for your advice to date. I’m currently trying to see if we can do anything with these new rates. Do you know how easy it would be to increase the term time of the mortgage? I will make sure to ask my MA but I got the impression Bluestone look at things a little differently then high street lenders with regards to term time.

I have had a call from an underwriter today about 2 cases I have with them. 
They told me they both still pass affordability on the new products so we are all good. They have generated a new illustrations and nothing more to do. 

I suspect if I wanted to change the term I could have done without a problem, assuming it still fits affordability and retirement ages etc. 

on that basis I take it they are reassessing affordability?

ACG

I thought they would but wasnt sure but yes that call made it sound like they were doing. 

JoeyKez

So sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but it looks as though there is now 3 declines on this forum. 
We have been informed that we have failed on affordability due to the significant increase in rates (increase by 3% from what was provided 8 weeks ago) and despite my wife increasing her hours to cover the increased cost; it looks as though they are very likely to fail us. 
Really mixed emotions. Weird to think it was only a little over a week ago we were informed we would be receiving our offer last Friday after our valuation had passed. Also really frustrating especially as we missed the deadline only down to them dragging their heels for weeks, asking the same question over and over again on deposit. 
Heart-wrenching experience and sad that we were given hope just for them to pull the rug from under us at the last minute. We're now in a very serious situation where we are desperately looking for somewhere to rent with children with extortionate rent prices before we have to move out of our current home. I dread having to call our estate agent to tell them we're not buying the property after 10 weeks of having the offer on the house accepted. However, despite how broken we are about the whole experience, I'm weirdly slightly relieved.
Good luck everyone with your future cases, and don't let our experience put you guys off. I've seen they've done wonders for others; I guess we're just the unlucky few! In case anyone is interested, here were our timelines. 

11/08 - DIP approved
12/08 - Application submitted
16/08 - Request for signing docs with wet signatures and employer references
19/08 - Request for further information 
24/08 - Request for proof of deposit
31/08 - Further request info on deposit
05/08 - Request for clarification on deposit
09/08 - Hard check carried out
09/08 - Request for further info on deposit
16/08 - Underwriting complete and request for valuation payment
26/08 - Valuation carried out
27/08 - Valuation given ok and said offer would be provided by the 30/08
30/08 - All offers paused
07/08 - Declined on affordability due to increased rates

alynos74

JoeyKez said:

So sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but it looks as though there is now 3 declines on this forum. 
We have been informed that we have failed on affordability due to the significant increase in rates (increase by 3% from what was provided 8 weeks ago) and despite my wife increasing her hours to cover the increased cost; it looks as though they are very likely to fail us. 
Really mixed emotions. Weird to think it was only a little over a week ago we were informed we would be receiving our offer last Friday after our valuation had passed. Also really frustrating especially as we missed the deadline only down to them dragging their heels for weeks, asking the same question over and over again on deposit. 
Heart-wrenching experience and sad that we were given hope just for them to pull the rug from under us at the last minute. We're now in a very serious situation where we are desperately looking for somewhere to rent with children with extortionate rent prices before we have to move out of our current home. I dread having to call our estate agent to tell them we're not buying the property after 10 weeks of having the offer on the house accepted. However, despite how broken we are about the whole experience, I'm weirdly slightly relieved.
Good luck everyone with your future cases, and don't let our experience put you guys off. I've seen they've done wonders for others; I guess we're just the unlucky few! In case anyone is interested, here were our timelines. 

11/08 - DIP approved
12/08 - Application submitted
16/08 - Request for signing docs with wet signatures and employer references
19/08 - Request for further information 
24/08 - Request for proof of deposit
31/08 - Further request info on deposit
05/08 - Request for clarification on deposit
09/08 - Hard check carried out
09/08 - Request for further info on deposit
16/08 - Underwriting complete and request for valuation payment
26/08 - Valuation carried out
27/08 - Valuation given ok and said offer would be provided by the 30/08
30/08 - All offers paused
07/08 - Declined on affordability due to increased rates

Have you been given any grounds to appeal? This is my biggest fear but we have some equity left from my sale to reduce our borrowing by about £10k if absolutely required. We literally have no other option but for this mortgage to go through 🤯

kelt99

JoeyKez said:

So sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but it looks as though there is now 3 declines on this forum. 
We have been informed that we have failed on affordability due to the significant increase in rates (increase by 3% from what was provided 8 weeks ago) and despite my wife increasing her hours to cover the increased cost; it looks as though they are very likely to fail us. 
Really mixed emotions. Weird to think it was only a little over a week ago we were informed we would be receiving our offer last Friday after our valuation had passed. Also really frustrating especially as we missed the deadline only down to them dragging their heels for weeks, asking the same question over and over again on deposit. 
Heart-wrenching experience and sad that we were given hope just for them to pull the rug from under us at the last minute. We're now in a very serious situation where we are desperately looking for somewhere to rent with children with extortionate rent prices before we have to move out of our current home. I dread having to call our estate agent to tell them we're not buying the property after 10 weeks of having the offer on the house accepted. However, despite how broken we are about the whole experience, I'm weirdly slightly relieved.
Good luck everyone with your future cases, and don't let our experience put you guys off. I've seen they've done wonders for others; I guess we're just the unlucky few! In case anyone is interested, here were our timelines. 

11/08 - DIP approved
12/08 - Application submitted
16/08 - Request for signing docs with wet signatures and employer references
19/08 - Request for further information 
24/08 - Request for proof of deposit
31/08 - Further request info on deposit
05/08 - Request for clarification on deposit
09/08 - Hard check carried out
09/08 - Request for further info on deposit
16/08 - Underwriting complete and request for valuation payment
26/08 - Valuation carried out
27/08 - Valuation given ok and said offer would be provided by the 30/08
30/08 - All offers paused
07/08 - Declined on affordability due to increased rates

So sorry to hear this - I can’t begin to imagine how devastated you must be feeling. Thanks for the update .. for the rest of us we are all waiting with a sense of dread. I’m sure more declines are on the way 😢😢

JoeyKez

Hi All, thanks. 

Sorry I’ve only just realised I’ve accidentally said we’ve been declined when we haven’t yet. We’ve been told we’ve not passed on affordability and despite our increased income from taking on more hours, we don’t think it’s likely to do anything to help. Still waiting for the final decision but we’ve more or less given up hope. Sorry for any confusion and hopefully not getting anyone unnecessarily worried. 

MovingForwards

@JoeyKez would extending the term be possible as it could bring affordability back down.

JoeyKez

MovingForwards said:

@JoeyKez would extending the term be possible as it could bring affordability back down.

Hi @MovingForwards, thanks for this advice. We had asked yesterday if that could be considered but haven’t heard anything back yet; would be interesting if it did anything. We’ve asked to explore a few options so will have to see, but it sounded pretty bleak by the end of the day. Will keep you updated if we hear anything. 

alynos74

JoeyKez said:

MovingForwards said:

@JoeyKez would extending the term be possible as it could bring affordability back down.

Hi @MovingForwards, thanks for this advice. We had asked yesterday if that could be considered but haven’t heard anything back yet; would be interesting if it did anything. We’ve asked to explore a few options so will have to see, but it sounded pretty bleak by the end of the day. Will keep you updated if we hear anything. 

Do you mind me asking what other options you’re looking to explore? I’m preparing myself for the call from my broker and absolutely terrified we are now going to be declined. We can just about scrape together enough to descrease our LTV to 80% and could pay a fee to secure a lower rate if need be. Or look at the variable rate?! Although I’m guessing the affordability for that will be even tighter. I don’t think I’ve slept all weekend for worrying. 

JoeyKez

alynos74 said:

JoeyKez said:

MovingForwards said:

@JoeyKez would extending the term be possible as it could bring affordability back down.

Hi @MovingForwards, thanks for this advice. We had asked yesterday if that could be considered but haven’t heard anything back yet; would be interesting if it did anything. We’ve asked to explore a few options so will have to see, but it sounded pretty bleak by the end of the day. Will keep you updated if we hear anything. 

Do you mind me asking what other options you’re looking to explore? I’m preparing myself for the call from my broker and absolutely terrified we are now going to be declined. We can just about scrape together enough to descrease our LTV to 80% and could pay a fee to secure a lower rate if need be. Or look at the variable rate?! Although I’m guessing the affordability for that will be even tighter. I don’t think I’ve slept all weekend for worrying. 

We were just exploring the increased term time and slightly increasing our deposit. Due to the time lapse, our circumstances have slightly changed (for the better) and we may now sit in a better credit category with hopefully a lower rate. Haven’t heard much back yet but I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible.