Mortgage broker - ask me anything

Liyana89

K_S said:

Liyana89 said:

Is a p45 needed when applying for mortgage? I haven’t worked in a fulltime job for a few years now, and I’ve definitely lost my p45.

How can I solve this?

@Liyana89 P45s are rarely required. If you haven't worked for years, then a P45 from your last job is of no use whatsoever to the lender.

I haven’t worked for a little over two years. Is it still the case that a p45 from my old job is of no use for the lender? (Wondering timeframe wise)

PXP

Hi there, 

Can you please advise us what other lenders would accept us, Aldermore has refused us after 3weeks of waiting due to my husband’s 24months fixed contract which is really frustrating because they could have refused us earlier than that.

My husband’s has adverse credit with 3 ccj’s which are older than 3years and my credit is pretty good. I have recently started a permanent job in July with one month’s payslip. 

We don’t know who else to turn to and we don’t want to lose our dream home 

K_S

PXP said:

Hi there, 

Can you please advise us what other lenders would accept us, Aldermore has refused us after 3weeks of waiting due to my husband’s 24months fixed contract which is really frustrating because they could have refused us earlier than that.

My husband’s has adverse credit with 3 ccj’s which are older than 3years and my credit is pretty good. I have recently started a permanent job in July with one month’s payslip. 

We don’t know who else to turn to and we don’t want to lose our dream home 

@pxp It isn't clear what the reason for refusal is. Is this your husband's first fixed term contract employment? Has he been on an FTC for at least 12 months?

What is your broker suggesting?

[Deleted User]

When remortgaging, how sensitive are lenders to credit card debt when assessing your creditworthiness?  Assuming everything else on your credit report is perfect, would some debt on a credit card be worth paying off prior to applying?  I've got some debt loaded on a 0% interest credit card and would like to keep it as is, but not to the detriment of getting the best mortgage deal...

Some context:

Single occupant, no dependents, etc etc...
Salary: ~£40k

HPI valuation: £97,564 (last proper valuation £85,000)
LTV: 50% (or 57%)

% used of card in question: 85% 92%
% used of total access to credit: 24%

Thanks for any advice.

PXP

K_S said:

PXP said:

Hi there, 

Can you please advise us what other lenders would accept us, Aldermore has refused us after 3weeks of waiting due to my husband’s 24months fixed contract which is really frustrating because they could have refused us earlier than that.

My husband’s has adverse credit with 3 ccj’s which are older than 3years and my credit is pretty good. I have recently started a permanent job in July with one month’s payslip. 

We don’t know who else to turn to and we don’t want to lose our dream home 

@pxp It isn't clear what the reason for refusal is. Is this your husband's first fixed term contract employment? Has he been on an FTC for at least 12 months?

What is your broker suggesting?

@K_S they refused us saying they don’t accept FTC and previously he was a contractor working under an umbrella company.  Our broker also tried with Kensington who we currently have a mortgage with but Kensington refused us because my contract at the time was under 12 months as I was still contracting under an umbrella company but now I have a permanent role

Our broker doesn’t know who to suggest now? 

K_S

PXP said:

K_S said:

PXP said:

Hi there, 

Can you please advise us what other lenders would accept us, Aldermore has refused us after 3weeks of waiting due to my husband’s 24months fixed contract which is really frustrating because they could have refused us earlier than that.

My husband’s has adverse credit with 3 ccj’s which are older than 3years and my credit is pretty good. I have recently started a permanent job in July with one month’s payslip. 

We don’t know who else to turn to and we don’t want to lose our dream home 

@pxp It isn't clear what the reason for refusal is. Is this your husband's first fixed term contract employment? Has he been on an FTC for at least 12 months?

What is your broker suggesting?

@K_S they refused us saying they don’t accept FTC and previously he was a contractor working under an umbrella company.  Our broker also tried with Kensington who we currently have a mortgage with but Kensington refused us because my contract at the time was under 12 months as I was still contracting under an umbrella company but now I have a permanent role

Our broker doesn’t know who to suggest now? 

@pxp Aldermore do consider FTCs so that can't be the actual reason for the decline. But you do need to meet their criteria for FTCs, which is probably what the stumbling block was.

All whole of market brokers have access to pretty much the same set of lenders. So if your current broker can't help I would recommend getting in touch with one more broker for a second opinion before giving up. Good luck!

hellosunshine17

Hello, we are having a nightmare with our broker and Nationwide and so considering a new application to another lender direct.

Which lenders do not ask for employment references? We are relocating and both in stable employment that we can do from home but my HR dept have refused to confirm my ability to WFH even though it is 100% ok with my manager and all confirmed in writing via email (so not on official headed paper unfortunately).

Our broker told us to go with Nationwide as they don't ask for employer references but 14 weeks down the line they have so far asked for 3 specialist surveys and nit-picked every one to within an inch of its life, often taking 3+ weeks to do so (each one says nothing major wrong with the house - approx 3k work) which is causing us massive stress and delaying the sale. 

Affordability wise we are more than ok. Which lender would be a good idea to try next?

K_S

hellosunshine17 said:

Hello, we are having a nightmare with our broker and Nationwide and so considering a new application to another lender direct.

Which lenders do not ask for employment references? We are relocating and both in stable employment that we can do from home but my HR dept have refused to confirm my ability to WFH even though it is 100% ok with my manager and all confirmed in writing via email (so not on official headed paper unfortunately).

Our broker told us to go with Nationwide as they don't ask for employer references but 14 weeks down the line they have so far asked for 3 specialist surveys and nit-picked every one to within an inch of its life, often taking 3+ weeks to do so (each one says nothing major wrong with the house - approx 3k work) which is causing us massive stress and delaying the sale. 

Affordability wise we are more than ok. Which lender would be a good idea to try next?

@hellosunshine17 Quick thoughts -

- Most lenders do not require employment references as part of minimum packaging (supporting documentation). However, that doesn't stop the underwriter from asking for one later on. Additionally, when relocating away from current base, some lenders will be happy with an explanation (eg: applicant is an auditor who travels to different locations and doesn't need to be based in an office) while others will ask for confirmation from the employer. It's hard to predict what approach they will take.

- What exactly is the issue with the property that Nationwide isn't happy with? That will determine whether it's an issue with Nationwide that could be solved by changing lenders, or with the property itself.

hellosunshine17

Hello @K_S thanks very much for your reply.

The valuation in June noted some damp and we were asked to get a damp report, which we did (quoted £2300 to fix). Valuation at that point was £0.

They then asked for a full structural building survey in July, which we did. There were some minor cracks reported and the surveyor, covering himself, recommended getting a structural engineer report. We questioned this with him at the time and he said it was very minor, no evidence of ongoing movement, less than £500 to put right.

Nationwide were not happy and still no valuation. They requested a structural engineer report in August. We did this and no major issues came up, minor cracks which of course we knew about. No evidence of ongoing movement (again).

Nationwide have now come back three weeks later and say they need a quote for the work. They want it from the engineer, who says he doesn't do that and we need a builder. Nationwide refuse to take a builders quote, they say it must be from the structural engineer. 

So we are almost 15 weeks in and still no valuation. Everything takes so long due to the 6+ working days to process things, even slower now our DIP has expired and everything has to go through an 'attachment team' 🙄

The house has been declared sound by everyone who looks at it and the vendor is understandably getting fed up. Add to this our broker's communication is non existent and things keep getting missed as we're in the dark most of the time. 

K_S

hellosunshine17 said:

Hello @K_S thanks very much for your reply.

The valuation in June noted some damp and we were asked to get a damp report, which we did (quoted £2300 to fix). Valuation at that point was £0.

They then asked for a full structural building survey in July, which we did. There were some minor cracks reported and the surveyor, covering himself, recommended getting a structural engineer report. We questioned this with him at the time and he said it was very minor, no evidence of ongoing movement, less than £500 to put right.

Nationwide were not happy and still no valuation. They requested a structural engineer report in August. We did this and no major issues came up, minor cracks which of course we knew about. No evidence of ongoing movement (again).

Nationwide have now come back three weeks later and say they need a quote for the work. They want it from the engineer, who says he doesn't do that and we need a builder. Nationwide refuse to take a builders quote, they say it must be from the structural engineer. 

So we are almost 15 weeks in and still no valuation. Everything takes so long due to the 6+ working days to process things, even slower now our DIP has expired and everything has to go through an 'attachment team' 🙄

The house has been declared sound by everyone who looks at it and the vendor is understandably getting fed up. Add to this our broker's communication is non existent and things keep getting missed as we're in the dark most of the time. 

@hellosunshine17 Ugh, unfortunately sometimes I do have clients who get stuck in this kind of valuation circle of hell. Valuations being a subjective exercise, it usually stems from an individual surveyor.

If you were my client, what I would advise is consider getting an application in for a free-valuation product with an alternate lender that doesn't use the same surveyor panel as Nationwide. If that surveyor also comes back with similar issues, then it's probably time to reconsider the property.

I would recommend getting this done sooner rather than later as currently it's taking longer than usual to get a valuation visit booked in most parts of the country. Good luck!