Mortgage broker - ask me anything

LondonBuyer2024

Hi,

Looking for some advice. Looking to buy my first house with my partner. We have a combined income of about £115,000, and a deposit of £50-55,000, which is about 12% LTV.

However, I have about £9000 of debts, and a credit score that is good or fair depending on where I am accessing the information. I have no missed payments for the past 5 years, and even then it was only one. My partner’s credit score is excellent.

Are we likely to be turned down for a mortgage because of my money situation?

All help and guidance gratefully received!

K_S

@londonbuyer2024 Based on the limited info in your post - you have a clean 5 year credit history and £9000 of debt with a 115k application income.

With a 10% deposit I can't see either of those causing you any issues at all getting a high-street mortgage.

If you are trying to absolutely maximise your borrowing, then the 9k background debt may play a small part in reducing the amount that you can borrow but it's unlikely to be material or insurmountable.

You should be fine, good luck!

LondonBuyer2024 said:

Hi,

Looking for some advice. Looking to buy my first house with my partner. We have a combined income of about £115,000, and a deposit of £50-55,000, which is about 12% LTV.

However, I have about £9000 of debts, and a credit score that is good or fair depending on where I am accessing the information. I have no missed payments for the past 5 years, and even then it was only one. My partner’s credit score is excellent.

Are we likely to be turned down for a mortgage because of my money situation?

All help and guidance gratefully received!

PenguinForever

Hello,

By the end of the year, we will be mortgage free (yay!) This has been a dream of ours for a very long time. However, due to personal circumstances, we are thinking of buying a second home (we have a disabled son with incredibly high needs and would mean that the rest of the family can have rest-bite between homes - please no judging!) I have looked into buying a second home and the extra charges etc. but the advice never really applies to us - it is either if you are obtaining a second mortgage, in which we are not as ours will be paid in full or if you are buying to let out, which we are also not - it’s simply a second home for our family. Could anyone be able to inform us the charges or rules? Thank you so much!

K_S

@PenguinForever The specific criteria might vary depending on the lender.

But generally speaking, it's fairly straightforward - when your affordability for the second property is calculated, the lender will also factor in the costs of running your current home (council tax, utilities, etc.). 

If the numbers add up, you might also want to consider the alternative of doing a capital raise remortgage on your current house and making a cash purchase of the second home. Might make the whole process a lot more simpler, allow you to move quickly as a cash buyer and potentially give you a wider choice of lenders.

PenguinForever said:

Hello,

By the end of the year, we will be mortgage free (yay!) This has been a dream of ours for a very long time. However, due to personal circumstances, we are thinking of buying a second home (we have a disabled son with incredibly high needs and would mean that the rest of the family can have rest-bite between homes - please no judging!) I have looked into buying a second home and the extra charges etc. but the advice never really applies to us - it is either if you are obtaining a second mortgage, in which we are not as ours will be paid in full or if you are buying to let out, which we are also not - it’s simply a second home for our family. Could anyone be able to inform us the charges or rules? Thank you so much!

BM645

Hi, 

I have received my mortgage offer in the last two weeks but very nervous about it being pulled. For context mortgage value is approx 1.5x my salary, so in affordability terms it's fine (it's a major high street lender). However:

1) I have already sold my house, and address has changed since I made the application (living with parents short term, and not registered on electoral role here). Is this an issue, if it is I worry it will become one due to point 2 as the bigger issue. 

2) The bigger issue, I have since relapsed from a bad gambling addiction since I submitted my application. There was nothing for concern on my bank statements at the time of application, but in the weeks since I have withdrawn and deposited over 12-14k in cash. Multiple transactions a day in excess of 1k some days. All balances out (no real profit or loss, fortunately) but clearly wouldn't look great to a lender. As part of this I accidentally withdrew cash on a credit card a couple of times as a cash advance (literally just used the wrong card, paid off instantly). I am concerned the cash advances will flash up on my credit file and trigger my case to be reviewed at completion stage, and then offer to be pulled if/when asked to re-supply bank statements. For further context I have since stopped gambling this last week and now getting support so not an ongoing issue, I have just read that banks apparently re-check you at completion stage so naturally am nervous. 

I am now being asked to exchange contracts with intention to complete in 3 weeks or so (new build, no chain). I'm nervous about exchanging in the event my mortgage offer was pulled, as clearly based on my updated bank statements, I'd assume I'd have no chance of getting another mortgage offer, and be committed to buying a property that I assume nobody would lend to me.

I do suffer with really bad anxiety so hoping this is one of these things but just wanted to ask an expert to understand if this is something I should be worrying about. 

Please let me know. 

annetheman

Hi brokers, 
I'm on my 4th mortgage application this year (3 offers previously received -- 1 rescinded after I switched house and that house failed valuation, 1 expired because the purchase was taking so long, 1 active but I've pulled out of that house due to length of time...).

Virgin Money have refused to lend the amount I applied for (offered a lower amount) because of something in my report - my broker is speaking with underwriter, but as we are only at AIP stage and Virgin Money do hard checks just for AIP then again for full, I am wondering if it's worth the bother...

There are 2 issues with my report - 1st is a NatWest credit card missed payment (total £400 on a credit card I did not set up a direct debit for in May 2022, entire card paid off in full the next month). 2nd is an arrangement to pay a £3,400 NatWest loan in May 2017 when I was in an unstable contract job, next month I caught up with repayments and no issues until end of that loan.

Because the AR was in 2017, I didn't declare it, but my broker knew of the 2022. Is it worth the bother, since I know I can get the full amount from another lender (albeit at a higher rate)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Of course I have full faith in my brilliant broker but just good to hear opinions anyway!

K_S

annetheman said:

Hi brokers, 
I'm on my 4th mortgage application this year (3 offers previously received -- 1 rescinded after I switched house and that house failed valuation, 1 expired because the purchase was taking so long, 1 active but I've pulled out of that house due to length of time...).

Virgin Money have refused to lend the amount I applied for (offered a lower amount) because of something in my report - my broker is speaking with underwriter, but as we are only at AIP stage and Virgin Money do hard checks just for AIP then again for full, I am wondering if it's worth the bother...

There are 2 issues with my report - 1st is a NatWest credit card missed payment (total £400 on a credit card I did not set up a direct debit for in May 2022, entire card paid off in full the next month). 2nd is an arrangement to pay a £3,400 NatWest loan in May 2017 when I was in an unstable contract job, next month I caught up with repayments and no issues until end of that loan.

Because the AR was in 2017, I didn't declare it, but my broker knew of the 2022. Is it worth the bother, since I know I can get the full amount from another lender (albeit at a higher rate)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Of course I have full faith in my brilliant broker but just good to hear opinions anyway!

@annetheman Unless I'm missing something obvious, I can't think of why a lender would adjust affordability for a historic AR on an account that has been fully settled. Or why an AR that isn't even on the credit report, on a loan that is long closed, would come up at all by itself.

The lender's system can adjust affordability downwards at AIP if it picks up existing commitments from the credit report that haven't been declared (or its system incorrectly thinks haven't been declared) on the AIP form.

Once your broker has a look at your latest Experian report, they should be able to figure out what the confusion is. If the downward adjustment is indeed an error, your broker should be able to correct, rerun the AIP (without a new hard check) and then proceed to full app.

If the downward adjustment isn't an error, then you could just use the next best lender.

annetheman

K_S said:

annetheman said:

Hi brokers, 
I'm on my 4th mortgage application this year (3 offers previously received -- 1 rescinded after I switched house and that house failed valuation, 1 expired because the purchase was taking so long, 1 active but I've pulled out of that house due to length of time...).

Virgin Money have refused to lend the amount I applied for (offered a lower amount) because of something in my report - my broker is speaking with underwriter, but as we are only at AIP stage and Virgin Money do hard checks just for AIP then again for full, I am wondering if it's worth the bother...

There are 2 issues with my report - 1st is a NatWest credit card missed payment (total £400 on a credit card I did not set up a direct debit for in May 2022, entire card paid off in full the next month). 2nd is an arrangement to pay a £3,400 NatWest loan in May 2017 when I was in an unstable contract job, next month I caught up with repayments and no issues until end of that loan.

Because the AR was in 2017, I didn't declare it, but my broker knew of the 2022. Is it worth the bother, since I know I can get the full amount from another lender (albeit at a higher rate)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Of course I have full faith in my brilliant broker but just good to hear opinions anyway!

@annetheman Unless I'm missing something obvious, I can't think of why a lender would adjust affordability for a historic AR on an account that has been fully settled. Or why an AR that isn't even on the credit report, on a loan that is long closed, would come up at all by itself.

The lender's system can adjust affordability downwards at AIP if it picks up existing commitments from the credit report that haven't been declared (or its system incorrectly thinks haven't been declared) on the AIP form.

Once your broker has a look at your latest Experian report, they should be able to figure out what the confusion is. If the downward adjustment is indeed an error, your broker should be able to correct, rerun the AIP (without a new hard check) and then proceed to full app.

If the downward adjustment isn't an error, then you could just use the next best lender.

Thanks a million @K_S!

Do you think it could be this: I recently settled Tesco Loan that was £144 per month (£2,400 final payment was made as a lump sum on 21st October) -- we think the settlement hasn't registered but I sent my settlement letter to broker so I think she will discuss this with them. Do you think they didn't look at the letter? It is not showing as cleared on Equifax, but is on Transunion and nothing at all on Experian. Do they use Equifax?

This is the Natwest AR May 2017:

This is the Tesco loan settled 21 October 2024:

I also sold my flat 23 August (so settled mortgage in full, but that is showing on all reports), so recently on electoral roll at my temp address (perfect credit person lives here, no linked bad credit). 

Basically it's just a mess now compared to before!

Noted that if the downward adjustment is deliberate we'll just go with the other lender (0.50% higher rate  

Thank you!

MrFrugalFever

annetheman said:

K_S said:

annetheman said:

Hi brokers, 
I'm on my 4th mortgage application this year (3 offers previously received -- 1 rescinded after I switched house and that house failed valuation, 1 expired because the purchase was taking so long, 1 active but I've pulled out of that house due to length of time...).

Virgin Money have refused to lend the amount I applied for (offered a lower amount) because of something in my report - my broker is speaking with underwriter, but as we are only at AIP stage and Virgin Money do hard checks just for AIP then again for full, I am wondering if it's worth the bother...

There are 2 issues with my report - 1st is a NatWest credit card missed payment (total £400 on a credit card I did not set up a direct debit for in May 2022, entire card paid off in full the next month). 2nd is an arrangement to pay a £3,400 NatWest loan in May 2017 when I was in an unstable contract job, next month I caught up with repayments and no issues until end of that loan.

Because the AR was in 2017, I didn't declare it, but my broker knew of the 2022. Is it worth the bother, since I know I can get the full amount from another lender (albeit at a higher rate)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Of course I have full faith in my brilliant broker but just good to hear opinions anyway!

@annetheman Unless I'm missing something obvious, I can't think of why a lender would adjust affordability for a historic AR on an account that has been fully settled. Or why an AR that isn't even on the credit report, on a loan that is long closed, would come up at all by itself.

The lender's system can adjust affordability downwards at AIP if it picks up existing commitments from the credit report that haven't been declared (or its system incorrectly thinks haven't been declared) on the AIP form.

Once your broker has a look at your latest Experian report, they should be able to figure out what the confusion is. If the downward adjustment is indeed an error, your broker should be able to correct, rerun the AIP (without a new hard check) and then proceed to full app.

If the downward adjustment isn't an error, then you could just use the next best lender.

Thanks a million @K_S!

Do you think it could be this: I recently settled Tesco Loan that was £144 per month (£2,400 final payment was made as a lump sum on 21st October) -- we think the settlement hasn't registered but I sent my settlement letter to broker so I think she will discuss this with them. Do you think they didn't look at the letter? It is not showing as cleared on Equifax, but is on Transunion and nothing at all on Experian. Do they use Equifax?

This is the Natwest AR May 2017:

This is the Tesco loan settled 21 October 2024:

I also sold my flat 23 August (so settled mortgage in full, but that is showing on all reports), so recently on electoral roll at my temp address (perfect credit person lives here, no linked bad credit). 

Basically it's just a mess now compared to before!

Noted that if the downward adjustment is deliberate we'll just go with the other lender (0.50% higher rate  

Thank you!

Your entire history with NatWest loan will still report until 6 years AFTER is has been settled so 2025 as the dates on your reports suggest meaning that any lender reviewing your credit files can see the AR marker. At AIP it may not necessarily be picked up but be absolutely under no illusion it will during the full underwriting application process.

(perfect credit person lives here, no linked bad credit). You can only be financially linked with someone should you hold a joint bank account or mortgage, someone else simply living at your address cannot affect your personal credit reporting data.

Depending on when your existing lenders send their data reports to the agencies, I would suggest that the mortgage lender will likely be able to see clearance before you will - nonetheless, evidence can always be supplied as a supporting document.

It is always best to fully disclose absolutely everything to your broker so they can best place you with the most appropriate lender, you don't want to go all the way and then find the lender pulls out due to uncovered information that wasn't declared, especially after exchange of contracts.

K_S

annetheman said:

K_S said:

annetheman said:

Hi brokers, 
I'm on my 4th mortgage application this year (3 offers previously received -- 1 rescinded after I switched house and that house failed valuation, 1 expired because the purchase was taking so long, 1 active but I've pulled out of that house due to length of time...).

Virgin Money have refused to lend the amount I applied for (offered a lower amount) because of something in my report - my broker is speaking with underwriter, but as we are only at AIP stage and Virgin Money do hard checks just for AIP then again for full, I am wondering if it's worth the bother...

There are 2 issues with my report - 1st is a NatWest credit card missed payment (total £400 on a credit card I did not set up a direct debit for in May 2022, entire card paid off in full the next month). 2nd is an arrangement to pay a £3,400 NatWest loan in May 2017 when I was in an unstable contract job, next month I caught up with repayments and no issues until end of that loan.

Because the AR was in 2017, I didn't declare it, but my broker knew of the 2022. Is it worth the bother, since I know I can get the full amount from another lender (albeit at a higher rate)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Of course I have full faith in my brilliant broker but just good to hear opinions anyway!

@annetheman Unless I'm missing something obvious, I can't think of why a lender would adjust affordability for a historic AR on an account that has been fully settled. Or why an AR that isn't even on the credit report, on a loan that is long closed, would come up at all by itself.

The lender's system can adjust affordability downwards at AIP if it picks up existing commitments from the credit report that haven't been declared (or its system incorrectly thinks haven't been declared) on the AIP form.

Once your broker has a look at your latest Experian report, they should be able to figure out what the confusion is. If the downward adjustment is indeed an error, your broker should be able to correct, rerun the AIP (without a new hard check) and then proceed to full app.

If the downward adjustment isn't an error, then you could just use the next best lender.

Thanks a million @K_S!

Do you think it could be this: I recently settled Tesco Loan that was £144 per month (£2,400 final payment was made as a lump sum on 21st October) -- we think the settlement hasn't registered but I sent my settlement letter to broker so I think she will discuss this with them. Do you think they didn't look at the letter? It is not showing as cleared on Equifax, but is on Transunion and nothing at all on Experian. Do they use Equifax?

This is the Natwest AR May 2017:

This is the Tesco loan settled 21 October 2024:

I also sold my flat 23 August (so settled mortgage in full, but that is showing on all reports), so recently on electoral roll at my temp address (perfect credit person lives here, no linked bad credit). 

Basically it's just a mess now compared to before!

Noted that if the downward adjustment is deliberate we'll just go with the other lender (0.50% higher rate  

Thank you!

@annetheman

Reduced affordability - it could well be the settled-but-not-updated Tesco loan that Virgin's AIP picked up automatically. Everything is automated at the AIP stage and the letter comes in only if/when there is any kind of manual adjustment. I can't remember if Virgin do that or not, or at what stage. Or it could be a simple matter of the broker correcting/tweaking the application.

AR marker from 2017 - if it's on the credit report, it will have been picked up by Virgin's AIP but would not impact affordability as the account is long settled. The impact that may have had would be either a decline at AIP or an LTV cap which I don't think has happened based on what you said. Unless it's a 95% LTV max-borrowing app, I can't imagine that a single 7+ year old AR marker would cause an application decline. You've had 4+ successful applications already!

I wouldn't stress too much, just make sure your broker has a copy of your latest CMF report so they can confirm what the confusion is and sort it out. 

All the best!