Mortgage broker - ask me anything

Zerforax

What is the largest mortgage amount you've seen taken on by individuals (for a residential property to live in)?

silvermountains

I would be worried that the second bank ends up using the same surveyor!

What proportion of applications would you say are down valued at the moment? 

K_S

silvermountains said:

I would be worried that the second bank ends up using the same surveyor!

What proportion of applications would you say are down valued at the moment? 

@silvermountains If you're a seller, then you have no control over which backup lender is chosen. If you're a buyer then your broker can just pick a lender that uses a different surveyor panel to the first one. It doesn't guarantee a better/different result, but increases the chances.

I'm just a one-person independent broker, so my experience may or may not be representative For me, if I think about the last 6 months, it's about 1 in 5 applications. On the plus side, other than one, the transaction has always been salvaged through another lender.

thudspud

Can you recommend any lenders who will take only 1 year of self employment SA302? My wife is self employed but only started trading in Feb 2021, she does have the last two years of SA302 forms (got the latest yesterday) but has only been trading for 14 months which is apparently not sufficient for most lenders.

K_S

@thudspud It's a bit tricky to name lenders as that could be construed as advice based on little to no information and there will be other background criteria to meet for the lender to consider a 1 year trading history.

Some of the more well known lenders that may consider sole traders with < 2 years trading are - Halifax, Aldermore, Kensington, Newcastle, etc.

This is off of the top of my head and may not be up to date info. 

I would recommend getting in touch with a whole of market broker who can look at the whole picture and give you a realistic idea of your options. Please see MSE guide here if you need help finding one

 https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/best-mortgages-cashback/#step3

thudspud

Thankyou, we spoke to a broker today who is looking into it for us but didn’t sound very hopeful so wanted to start my own research. She mentioned Halifax but they won’t lend enough, seemed a lot lower than other lenders.

thanks again.

K_S

thudspud said:

Thankyou, we spoke to a broker today who is looking into it for us but didn’t sound very hopeful so wanted to start my own research. She mentioned Halifax but they won’t lend enough, seemed a lot lower than other lenders.

thanks again.

@thudspud You've done the right thing by approaching a broker. Definitely get a second opinion before giving up as some brokers (especially the volume ones) might not have the experience or the time to place a 1-year trading case, especially if you are looking to maximise borrowing. 

Halifax unfortunately does have a lower income multiple if any of the applicants are self-employed. 

thudspud

That makes sense about Halifax then.

Do you concur that most lenders won’t touch us even though she does have 2 years of SA302, it’s just the first one only shows a tiny amount of self employed income and some income from regular employment.

K_S

thudspud said:

That makes sense about Halifax then.

Do you concur that most lenders won’t touch us even though she does have 2 years of SA302, it’s just the first one only shows a tiny amount of self employed income and some income from regular employment.

@thudspud Most lenders require SE applicants to have been trading for 2 years. But there are a good number of lenders who will consider with 1 year trading history as well. The options available just depend on the overall case.

Kimonos88

Do you have any experience with green mortgages? My broker signed us up for a green mortgage as Barratts new builds are all either A or B rating. However ours is not complete yet so the EPC is not yet available. This is the only thing holding up the offer now. Is it simple to change the product to the non green rate if we can’t get this certificate?