Soooo many late payments between us

Looking2thefuture

Hi all,
Looking for some guidance please. 

My wife and I earn £51k between us. and have £10k for a house deposit with another possible £10k later in the year as I am due some inheritance. In the past 4 years we have more than doubled what we used to earn and were living way beyond our means. We recently married and are paying £200 board living with the in laws. we have been improving our credit history and I must admit despite both going to uni we have been so naive and missed a lot of payments for CC’s and credit accounts over the past 6 years.

me- 11 missed payments but none of past 25 months

wife- none in last 18 months apart from two in jan when her pay date was changed.

In this climate with such poor history do you think we will be able to get a first time buyer mortgage? It’s a big goal for me and it keeps me up at night that we are now married and still don’t have our own place. 

We live in the North so looking at houses sub £150k

Thanks in advance

Ben 

Looking2thefuture

Wife- 22 missed payments before the last 18 months**

Thrugelmir

Late payments are only one aspect. How much do you owe in terms of unsecured debt? 

Looking2thefuture

Our unsecured debt is:
My MBNA CC- £2100- paying £150 a month (0% till end of the year)
Wife’s Aqua CC- £3500- paying £285 a month which is over payment of £130
my admiral loan £7250- £345 a month 
wife’s Halifax loan- £6500- £345 a month
car loan- £4200- £166 a month 

we got married in November which is what most of the debt accounts for. We have paid off £10k in debt in the past 6 months as I had my LBM before the wedding. Now doing nearly
off the suggestions on the forum to improve our finances.

We have about £2000 spare at the moment as my two jobs have been unaffected so have been putting that towards one debt every month till paid and then moved onto the next one. 

Thrugelmir

Keep addressing the amount of debt you owe. In time the late payments will age / drop off your file. Sounds as if you are making good progress. Time is the ultimate healer. 

NatalieAGC

your joint income monthly is approx 3k a month. your debt Bill each month is approx £1,300.  lenders will factor in your affordability and surplus income after all commitments and living costs have been paid and then apply a stress test, and in the current climate lending will be done much harsher than pre- Covid.   maybe look to clear debt before trying to seek a mortgage? 

have you checked mortgage eligibility checkers, usually soft searches but once you factor in your commitments it will give you a figure to work with.  

good luck 
 

ddonq1412

to help clear the debt, reduce the payments on the zero per cent card and push more to the aqua card as i would guess the apr on this would be something like 35 -40% . try and clear this card first and the interest saving will help goes towards the other debt. 

broga020

You’ve got an awful lot of missed payments and your current debt is very high for your income, so even if you did get a mortgage it would be very expensive. You’d probably be better off paying down the debt and waiting for those missed payments to drop off your file. You could try using the affordability calculators on some of the banks intermediary sites to give you an idea of whether they’d think you can afford a mortgage. 

KeepOnKnitting

Looking2thefuture said:

Our unsecured debt is:
My MBNA CC- £2100- paying £150 a month (0% till end of the year)
Wife’s Aqua CC- £3500- paying £285 a month which is over payment of £130
my admiral loan £7250- £345 a month 
wife’s Halifax loan- £6500- £345 a month
car loan- £4200- £166 a month 

we got married in November which is what most of the debt accounts for. We have paid off £10k in debt in the past 6 months as I had my LBM before the wedding. Now doing nearly
off the suggestions on the forum to improve our finances.

We have about £2000 spare at the moment as my two jobs have been unaffected so have been putting that towards one debt every month till paid and then moved onto the next one. 

If you are going at that rate, you will be nearly debt-free in about a year. In 15 months you will have a 10% deposit for a £150,000 house as well. Sounds like you are both young. If you can let living with your parents ride for 18 months, you will give yourselves the most amazing start to the rest of your future. You have no idea how many people would love to be able to get in that position. Make that goal a team game and work together towards the first goals of married life.

Looking2thefuture

We are 31 and 32 so not that young and have been living ‘at home’ with the in laws for 6 years. We just want/ need our own space and want to start a family in the next couple of years.

feel like we are finally getting somewhere but now I’ve posted I feel it’s buster my bubble. Nobody wants to be 35
licinf with their in-laws for 10 years with no home and not able to start a family. 

MovingForwards

Speak with an adverse credit mortgage broker to see what your options are. Although it's only late / missed payments there's a lot of them.
A good adverse broker also deals with mainstream lenders and will know who may find your history acceptable.

As you are looking upto £150k, you don't yet have 10% deposit, 5% are near impossible mortgages at the moment, you may even need 15-20% it's a very different climate now compared to the start of the year.

Earning £51k between you isn't much, with the debt and planned family, so it's best to clear the debt before dropping to one wage, even if it's just for the maternity leave as in-laws will babysit, if they are not then nursery fees will swallow a lot of the second income.

I appreciate you don't want to be living with the in-laws much longer, but you may need to and that is where a good broker will set realistic expectations so you know what to aim towards. I wouldn't be living in my own home if it wasn't for my broker guiding me through what I needed to do to be mortgage application ready.