Mortgage broker - ask me anything

K_S

@james_d It is not normal for there to be multiple hard checks for one app, and it's quite common for online credit files to erroneously show multiple hard checks when there was only one done. A few months down the line (or if you were to get a stat report), it's usually back to showing just one search.

For the lender, there's nothing to be gained by doing multiple hard/soft checks a few days apart as there will rarely be any updates in that short a time.

James_D

K_S said:

@james_d It is not normal for there to be multiple hard checks for one app, and it's quite common for online credit files to erroneously show multiple hard checks when there was only one done. A few months down the line (or if you were to get a stat report), it's usually back to showing just one search.

For the lender, there's nothing to be gained by doing multiple hard/soft checks a few days apart as there will rarely be any updates in that short a time.

That's put my mind at ease somewhat - thank you!

RyanT1992

Hi all,

I just wondered - how often (if ever) do lenders physically call/contact an employer to verify employment, after a mortgage offer has been made? I've heard that sometimes they will check post-exchange of contracts, just to see if nothing has changed in circumstances.

HSBC in particular.

I only ask, as my partner's bosses will be on holiday for a while coming up soon, with little/no access to technology, so I don't want the post-mortgage offer stage to be dramatically slowed down by the fact the bank can't get hold of my partner's employers to check she still works there!

Thanks!

K_S

RyanT1992 said:

Hi all,

I just wondered - how often (if ever) do lenders physically call/contact an employer to verify employment, after a mortgage offer has been made? I've heard that sometimes they will check post-exchange of contracts, just to see if nothing has changed in circumstances.

HSBC in particular.

I only ask, as my partner's bosses will be on holiday for a while coming up soon, with little/no access to technology, so I don't want the post-mortgage offer stage to be dramatically slowed down by the fact the bank can't get hold of my partner's employers to check she still works there!

Thanks!

@ryant1992 With mainstream lenders - Almost never post-offer. Where employment verification checks are made, it's almost always during underwriting and normally only in cases where there's a specific reason for a check such as suspicion of fraud, inability to provide the income evidence requested, etc.

Where there are post-offer checks undertaken, they are usually limited to asking the broker to provide fresh payslips, etc.

RyanT1992

K_S said:

RyanT1992 said:

Hi all,

I just wondered - how often (if ever) do lenders physically call/contact an employer to verify employment, after a mortgage offer has been made? I've heard that sometimes they will check post-exchange of contracts, just to see if nothing has changed in circumstances.

HSBC in particular.

I only ask, as my partner's bosses will be on holiday for a while coming up soon, with little/no access to technology, so I don't want the post-mortgage offer stage to be dramatically slowed down by the fact the bank can't get hold of my partner's employers to check she still works there!

Thanks!

@ryant1992 With mainstream lenders - Almost never post-offer. Where employment verification checks are made, it's almost always during underwriting and normally only in cases where there's a specific reason for a check such as suspicion of fraud, inability to provide the income evidence requested, etc.

Where there are post-offer checks undertaken, they are usually limited to asking the broker to provide fresh payslips, etc.

Hi, 

Thanks very much for the reply - a welcome relief! As far as I'm aware, HSBC don't even have my partner's employer contact details anyway, as my partner is a private Nanny. We had one move fall through & we're trying to keep the same product for our new house, but we're borrowing less money & both still in same jobs 3 months after previous mortgage offer was sent, so I'm hoping it'll be a straightforward swap? We had the mortgage valuation last week, which I'm guessing is the last step before offer? And, I'm also guessing as I've not heard anything in a week, that's good news?

CLG2022

Hello, 

New username as couldn't log in to usual account but I'm not new to MSE!

Anyhow I could use some advice on our situation & what is possible. 

Current house worth £850k (recently valued).
Current Mortgage with Santander 486k - 57% LTV. Fixed rate due to end Jan 2023. 

We would like to borrow approx 80k to do an extension & patio, which would then push the house to be worth close to £1 million & give us the extra space we would like.  

Main earner is self employed, Ltd company for over 11 yrs however due to covid took a permanent contract under PAYE. Kept the company open though. So the accounts look something like this for him. 

Salary & Dividends combined. 
21-22  - 56k to date, full year should be approx 90k. 
20- 21 - 0 due to covid (was work under PAYE)
19-20 - 64k 

Second applicant salary £57.1k, however currently on maternity leave & due back towards the end of this year. I have a letter from work stating salary and when I'm due back etc. 

How would santander view this? I spoke to them a while ago and they said they were changing the way they view self employed over covid and to call back after. With a small baby it;s hard to find the time to sit on the phone for ages so I wanted to try and be prepared with what they will need & thought this thread might help. Perhaps a broker has had recent dealing with similar?

We also have 18k on a credit card (0%, paying down nicely). £502 for car payment but that's it. Excellent credit history. 

Thanks for reading. 

K_S

CLG2022 said:

Hello, 

New username as couldn't log in to usual account but I'm not new to MSE!

Anyhow I could use some advice on our situation & what is possible. 

Current house worth £850k (recently valued).
Current Mortgage with Santander 486k - 57% LTV. Fixed rate due to end Jan 2023. 

We would like to borrow approx 80k to do an extension & patio, which would then push the house to be worth close to £1 million & give us the extra space we would like.  

Main earner is self employed, Ltd company for over 11 yrs however due to covid took a permanent contract under PAYE. Kept the company open though. So the accounts look something like this for him. 

Salary & Dividends combined. 
21-22  - 56k to date, full year should be approx 90k. 
20- 21 - 0 due to covid (was work under PAYE)
19-20 - 64k 

Second applicant salary £57.1k, however currently on maternity leave & due back towards the end of this year. I have a letter from work stating salary and when I'm due back etc. 

How would santander view this? I spoke to them a while ago and they said they were changing the way they view self employed over covid and to call back after. With a small baby it;s hard to find the time to sit on the phone for ages so I wanted to try and be prepared with what they will need & thought this thread might help. Perhaps a broker has had recent dealing with similar?

We also have 18k on a credit card (0%, paying down nicely). £502 for car payment but that's it. Excellent credit history. 

Thanks for reading. 

@clg2022 Sorry, I'm not entirely sure what the question is but here are my quick thoughts -

- Santander's main covid change with regard to SE income was that they capped it at 75% LTV. But that wouldn't be an issue in your case and they take a relaxed view about this for existing borrowers anyway.

- affordability: just plug in the numbers in the Santander affordability calc here and see what it returns 
https://www.santanderforintermediaries.co.uk/calculators-and-forms/affordability/

- ltd.co.director income: Very very generally speaking, Santander will want to see that the company is currently trading and that it is sustainable to carry forward along with the PAYE role (if that still exists). Normally they will take an average of last 2 years (this is a recent change as they used to be ok to take latest year figures) but Santander have the discretion to disregard the 0 ltd.co.income covid impacted year, however that'll depend on the underwriter and the case as a whole.

- maternity: by itself, this should be fine based on the limited info in your post

working_classy

After some re-mortgage advice if possible, please. I'm trying to see if I will be better off getting a new 5yr deal early and paying the clause as I’m worried interest rates could be much higher than they are now come the end of my current deal next year.

Figures:

House value £450,000, by end of current mortgage deal there will be £220,000 outstanding.

I have some savings, was going to pay an extra £20,000 off come re-mortgage time.

15 months remaining on current mortgage, fixed rate of 1.92%, repayments of £940ish pcm.

Early buy out clause £3,900.

Have looked on Martin Lewis mortgage tool today and new 5yr deal with The Cumberland of 2.11% for 5yrs @ £1024pcm for the remaining £200,000.

Should I sit tight or jump early?

chreesh94

My partner and I are first time buyers and have recently applied for a mortgage with Leeds building Society. 

We submitted our application through our mortgage advisor on Thursday afternoon, 28th April. We haven't heard anything back yet, surely they should have done a hard credit search by now ? 

K_S

chreesh94 said:

My partner and I are first time buyers and have recently applied for a mortgage with Leeds building Society. 

We submitted our application through our mortgage advisor on Thursday afternoon, 28th April. We haven't heard anything back yet, surely they should have done a hard credit search by now ? 

@chreesh94 This are the current average service levels for Leeds https://www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/intermediaries/service-status/

I wouldn't worry too much about the specific dates for the soft/hard checks showing on the reports. They are often incorrect/delayed and some lenders will simply mark the DIP soft-check as a hard-check once a full application is submitted. Leeds instruct the valuation on day 1, so assuming your broker submitted a fully packaged app on Thursday, a valuation should already have been instructed.