Married but want a single applicant mortgage

Bolto

Hello. My husband and I need to move to a house (I’m pregnant) but my credit isn’t great, although it is improving. My husband has excellent credit so I think we need a single applicant mortgage. Is this possible?

onthemend88

What isn't great about your credit?

Between myself and husband we have CCJ's and defaults (all over 3 years old and settled) and we have just bought our first home so it is possible to have adverse credit and still get a mortgage. 

You will need to book an appointment with a mortgage advisor who will be able to look at your credit files and see if they are able to fit your circumstances with a lender. 

Bolto

I have 2 defaults from early 2018, all settled. 

My husbands salary is sufficient enough in theory to purchase a house but I’m not sure if when you’re married they accept single applicants. 

[Deleted User]

Some lenders do allow sole applications from married clients and some dont. And then some who allow sole applications still credit check adults in the household and can decline anyway.   Have a broker look at it and see if its better to apply in sole anmes or joint names

Thrugelmir

Are you contributing to the deposit? 

tigsly

I think for your security you may want to be on the mortgage -and 'deeds'.. if you are not and you split - it may make things more complex

Bolto

tigsly said:

I think for your security you may want to be on the mortgage -and 'deeds'.. if you are not and you split - it may make things more complex

I’m not concerned about that. If it’s in his name then rightfully he should get it. I have a mortgage on a flat that I bought before we met that’s currently rented out, so I have a safety net of my own. 

I just need to know if it’s possible to get a single applicant mortgage. 

Bolto

Thrugelmir said:

Are you contributing to the deposit? 

Yes, well it’s our money that we’ve been saving. Does that make a difference to to application? We both have ISAs in our names that we’re filling up for a deposit. We’re at 30k collectively. Should we move my ISA into a savings account in his name?

cii4ps

I’m in the process of doing what you mention. Lenders will act difficult if someone expected to live in the house has made a gift deposit and isn’t mentioned on the mortgage and deed.

In my case, in actuality none of it was a gift, but some of my money was in my wife’s ISA and I transferred it over on the day I needed to provide bank statements. That lender (Skipton) at the final stage said they wanted us to become a joint applicants and they wouldn’t accept statements or proof defending my statement that it isn’t her money. 

That was a showstopper for me, so changed lenders. My broker asked quite number of lender and many said they didn’t have any issues with it. I went with Nationwide who said they’d require a statement from my wife that she’s giving it away as gift and revokes all rights to it.

This was suitable for us, but it may not be for you.

The alternative I discussed with my broker was to wait at 3 months so that it doesn’t show up in my bank statements. Lenders generally ask between 1 to 4 months of statement and if it doesn’t show up and you don’t mention it, it won’t be an issue. Significantly less headache there, but a minority of lenders don’t accept single lenders in joint households. 

cii4ps

Let me add that I can afford the mortgage trice over on my own. This may have contributed to willingness of so many lenders, it may also have nothing to do with it. My point is that I don’t know what my broker discussed with them, other than the basics he told me (eg they accept it or don’t ). You need to explain this to your broker and they need to forward your situation to relevant lender BEFORE you apply, otherwise you may end up wasting time. 

Bolto

cii4ps said:

I’m in the process of doing what you mention. Lenders will act difficult if someone expected to live in the house has made a gift deposit and isn’t mentioned on the mortgage and deed.

In my case, in actuality none of it was a gift, but some of my money was in my wife’s ISA and I transferred it over on the day I needed to provide bank statements. That lender (Skipton) at the final stage said they wanted us to become a joint applicants and they wouldn’t accept statements or proof defending my statement that it isn’t her money. 

That was a showstopper for me, so changed lenders. My broker asked quite number of lender and many said they didn’t have any issues with it. I went with Nationwide who said they’d require a statement from my wife that she’s giving it away as gift and revokes all rights to it.

This was suitable for us, but it may not be for you.

The alternative I discussed with my broker was to wait at 3 months so that it doesn’t show up in my bank statements. Lenders generally ask between 1 to 4 months of statement and if it doesn’t show up and you don’t mention it, it won’t be an issue. Significantly less headache there, but a minority of lenders don’t accept single lenders in joint households. 

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you. 

He too has a high income so affordability I’m sure will not be an issue, it’s just the default on my credit score that could be our stumbling block. 

His ISA is full  (20k). We have an additional savings account in his name that we can save £500 a month in with a slightly higher interest rate than our ISA’s so we’re at £5k ish in that.  Mine only has 8k in it so far so it’s not like I’ve got huge amounts in it. 

It’s great to know that some lenders are ok with it.