Buying home with wife less than, 2 years in the UK

Quillsnpens

Hello All 
Wife and I are thinking of buying a home in London and I'd need her to be on the mortgage application be able to afford a home. The problem is that my wife is a foreigner who has been in the UK for about 2 years (working full time in a permanent role for about 1 year). Due to her relatively short time in the UK her credit report does not seem to come up with any of the three agencies because of not enough history. I was just wondering if we apply for a mortgage how would the lenders look at her. We have a joint bank account so her credit history may be tied to mine and maybe give it a boost (not sure if that helps). 
If they won't lend now, then how long typically before they will agree she has enough history to lend. 
We have no debt, defaults or CCJs ever
Thanks for all your help

MovingForwards

What is her residency status?

Quillsnpens

She has a family Visa (Leave to remain). I am a British citizen. It will be up for renewal after 1.5 years. Work permitted but no recourse to Public funds.

AnotherJoe

Does she have any credit here? Credit card, store card, mobile phone contract .....

kingstreet

What's the loan to value?

Quillsnpens

no credit yet. Will be applying for a credit card and transferring phone contract to her name soon. 
LTV will be c80% on a c400k - 450k flat. Combined income will be c£110k

jamielutz1987

@Quillsnpens This is definitely one for a broker. 75% LTV is usually what you need if you don't have ILR. If your wife had 3 years residency or at least 2 years left on the visa, there would be more options.

This is one example (Halifax) of lender criteria for non-EU nationals

Please note that lender criteria in this regard is not always as published or might have some leeway. When I was working in London I had an Indian colleague on a Tier 2 visa whose broker got her a mortgage through TSB even though the criteria on the TSB intermediary website at the time said that you needed ILR. So definitely consult with a broker before giving up for now.

katkatmachine

I’ve been here in the UK for only around 2.5 years when we applied for a mortgage, I’m on spouse visa, partner is British. Also, my visa then was only valid for three months more but we managed to get an 85% LTV from Halifax. A good broker will definitely help in getting a mortgage. Good luck. 

Quillsnpens

Hi Guys. An update and another question.
I finally contacted a broker who's managed to get me a AIP with Halifax. However it seems Halifax have withdrawn some broker deals so the deal he can get me is 0.5% higher than a direct only deal with Halifax (costs an additional £100 pm). To add to this the broker deal is a 5 year fix which means we'll be paying a higher amount for longer before we can remortgage and get the best market rates when wife has Indefinite leave in 2.5 years.
I guess my question is is it worth trying to go direct or should i just bear the higher rate and go with the ease of using a broker?
As always, appreciate the advice.

Thrugelmir

There's no guarantee as to what interest rates will be in 2 years time. 

Quillsnpens

Agreed it's a risk. But right now I'm limited to one lender. After 2.5 half years I should have more options and its a risk I'm willing to take as the current rate is pretty atrocious.