Flexi Furlough

LittleMsSunshine

Hi all
If i am on flexi furlough and my payslips show this - will I be able to apply for a mortgage?
I have been told by my broker that even though I have a large deposit, that no one wants to lend to anyone on furlough but I have been working the same hrs as before the pandemic ... now and again I may have a day off in the week as a furlough day on behalf of my employers but this is very rare. Any advice would be much appreciated 😀

greatcrested

A broker is best placed to answer. Get a 2nd opinion and/or post on the mortgage board here.

SaintJudy

I've been on furlough since March last year and I applied for a mortgage and bought a flat in that time, I moved in a month ago, so I don't agree with your broker's statement that lenders don't want to lend to people on furlough. My mortgage is with Coventry and they weren't the only ones offering  

AdrianC

If you're working the same hours as before, you aren't furloughed.

Furloughed means you aren't working, and the government are covering 80% of your normal salary.

If your employer wants to call flexible working days "flexi furlough", they're free to - but that's not the same as being on the government furlough scheme, which is what the broker is meaning.

Rankin21

Our broker was fantastic when it came to getting us a mortgage when we are both on furlough. He knew exactly which banks were accepting furlough and which weren’t so he could get our application to the right bank fairly quickly.

We ended up with Santander the only thing we needed was a letter explaining we would be returning back to work- which should be easy for you to obtain if your only on flexi furlough. The only thing is they might reduce the amount slightly so we could only borrow based on 80% of our wages but like you we had a large deposit so it didn’t matter too much as we were able to bridge the gap. 

teachfast

AdrianC said:

If you're working the same hours as before, you aren't furloughed.

Furloughed means you aren't working, and the government are covering 80% of your normal salary.

If your employer wants to call flexible working days "flexi furlough", they're free to - but that's not the same as being on the government furlough scheme, which is what the broker is meaning.

Actually this is incorrect. Furlough can be both part time and flexible (not pre-defined hours). The government furlough scheme compensates the employer for this. 

LittleMsSunshine

Thank you so much for your input. I will be sure to follow this up with my broker tomorrow and see what he has to say. Many thanks again

fishfingerbutties

Will be interested to know how this goes. Do you mean flexibile furlough shows because you are only being paid at the 80% for furlough time and your pay is reduced compared to your full time pay? I'm on flexible furlough and get around a day off per week, but company is topping up to full pay so my payslip doesn't look any different.

Thrugelmir

Having a large deposit unfortunately doesn't help with affordability.  How much of the time are you being furloughed.  "now and again I may have a day off in the week as a furlough day" is rather vague. What's the likelihood of returning to full time hours?  The Job Retention Scheme unfortunately doesn't guarantee everyone's job will remain in the future. 

LittleMsSunshine

@fishfingerbutties-same I sometimes get a day off in the week but due to it being a busy time in the industry I work in this is once every month right now. I think by putting us on flexi furlough it was a way of my work protecting us/themselves

LittleMsSunshine

@Thrugelmir - many thanks for your feedback, yea unfortunately I don’t really know when I am having a furlough day until the week before and of late it’s probably been about once a month. I guess we will only know after the furlough scheme ends how the companies policy will change if at all which is why I will probably take the approach of contacting my broker again. Thank you