Refused Mortgage Over And Over

Radicalrooster

We were supposed to exchange on a house last week, however I believe that will fall through shortly.

We are first time buyers, we have been declined a mortgage three times and told by two other lenders they would not touch us.

The annoying thing is no lender will tell us why they declined us.

We have been told we can borrow up to £340,000, however we're looking at houses closer to £250,000, so affordability is not an issue.

We have no poor credit, no missed payments, no loans or finance, nothing, so that doesn't seem to be an issue.

We have one credit card between us, which we pay off in full every month.

I know 'credit scores' play no part in an application, but both of ours are fine.

I do work for a US company, and since a US company has no liability for PAYE or NI in the UK, I pay that myself via DD to HMRC every month. I initially thought this would be the reason why no lender wants us as they assume I am self employed (which I am not), but speaking to a broker this morning, they said they don't believe this is the case as we had enough documents to show I am not self employed and back up my DD HMRC payments.

So we are at a loss as to why no one will seemingly give us a mortgage?

We have tried:

HSBC - Declined and then declined an appeal
Santander - Declined
NatWest - Declined
Halifax - I called before applying, they said don't bother
Nationwide - The same as Halifax

Of course I know there are 'specialist' lenders out there, but our new 'specialist' mortgage broker says all lenders have access to a system that will have flagged us for one reason or another, so we may never end up getting a mortgage!

Can anyone throw any light or advice on our situation?

Tatters26

So when Halifax and Nationwide verbally said not to bother, surely they said why not to bother? Or at what point in the conversation did they take that stance? 

Maybe apply soley through your partner or through you, if the snag is only one-side whatever it is. That's of course if you can meet the affordability on your own.

Radicalrooster

Tatters26 said:

So when Halifax and Nationwide verbally said not to bother, surely they said why not to bother? Or at what point in the conversation did they take that stance? 

Maybe apply soley through your partner or through you, if the snag is only one-side whatever it is. That's of course if you can meet the affordability on your own.

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately neither Halifax or Nationwide said why not to bother. I called them both and the person I spoke to said they had to talk to someone who spoke with 'head office'. Both simply came back and said along the lines of 'sorry, we wouldn't be able to offer you a mortgage'. When I asked why, they said they 'head office simply said no'.

I assumed it's because I paid PAYE and NI via DD to HMRC, but today our specialist mortgage advisor said he doesn't think that's the issue as we have my contract and letters from HMRC saying I am not self employed.

Sadly my partner can't meet the affordability on her own as I bring in about 85% of our total income.

ACG

Declining you does not necessarily put you on the fraud system. It just means you do not fit criteria or they dont like your situation. 

I would suggest a new broker. 

If you are on the fraud watchlist you probably have no chance for the time being, but it does not sound like you are on any of those?

Tatters26

Anything like a criminal record or bankruptcy floating about from before? I've never heard of not being given the reason at all. Seems one of you has almost been blacklisted in some way 

kingstreet

Have you obtained your National Hunter reports?

https://www.nhunter.co.uk/

Radicalrooster

@ACG - Ironically this is with a new broker! (Our fourth!). I am not sure if it was the 'fraud' list (as we've never committed fraud!), he just said that all lenders talk to each other and share information, and since we could be on that 'system', it may be harder for us to get a mortgage now.

@Tatters26 - Nope! No criminal records or bankruptcy for either of us! It does seem that way, especially as we're not being told and by so many lenders.

@kingstreet - Thank you for the link, could you point me in the right direction how I get the report? I've been clicking but seem to be going around in circles!

[Deleted User]

You can obtain data by doing a SAR.  Link is here https://www.nhunter.co.uk/SAR.pdf

Halifax and Natwest wouldnt have said dont bother for anything to do with your actual case.  They just dont do mortgages for anyone paid foreign currency anymore

Radicalrooster

Deleted_User said:

You can obtain data by doing a SAR.  Link is here https://www.nhunter.co.uk/SAR.pdf

Halifax and Natwest wouldnt have said dont bother for anything to do with your actual case.  They just dont do mortgages for anyone paid foreign currency anymore

Thanks @Deleted_User - I thought it was an online application, I'll get this filled out.

I see - That makes more sense regarding those lenders but not the others?

I was under the impression you had to be told why you were declined for credit? Is that not the case?

london21

That is crazy, aviod making any new applications until you find out what the issue is.

Radicalrooster

london21 said:

That is crazy, aviod making any new applications until you find out what the issue is.

The problem is, we're working with three separate mortgage advisors, all of whom we've had to pay upfront and all of whom want to get their fee for when they get us an offer.

None of the three can tell us why we're getting declined. Neither can our original mortgage advisor from 2 months ago.

It's starting to get to me now after 2 months, perhaps it's a sign I'm not supposed to own a home?