Need a mortgage and a car - best way to structure debt?

catsatonthemat

We currently own a small flat and are saving to add to a deposit to be able to move to a house, we also need a (used) car. We're trying to understand the best way to structure the car purchase to maximise our the amount of mortgage we can achieve.

We can afford the car out of our savings, but imagine that less deposit = lower LTV = lower amount we can borrow etc.etc. If we were to get an interest free credit card and to buy the car on using this, would that still be taken into account when we apply for a mortgage? How would anyone else structure this purchase? We did contemplate leasing a car because then it's a smaller monthly outlay that doesn't affect our savings but it seems like such a shame not to own anything at the end. 

MovingForwards

Any finance potentially reduces the amount you can borrow on a mortgage.

Buy a used runabout, with a long MOT, from your savings, then get your home.

Grumpy_chap

Get the house first, then buy a low cost car that can be funded from cash after the mortgage and other outgoings.
Now is the time to embrace bangernomics.  Look forward to a better car in a year or so once things are stable.

foxy-stoat

Buy a car for a couple of grand out of your savings, I doubt that will impact your deposit much.  Once you have moved in you will be in a better position to take out as much credit as the banks will allow to get another car.