Refused Mortgage Over And Over

Tatters26

I’ve never heard of a mortgage advisor asking for money up front 

flashg67

Are you paid in dollars? Lloyds excluded my partner from our mortgage calculations because most of her income came in USD, but I'd have expected a broker to know/explain that

amnblog

If I remember the previous thread. You consider yourself employed PAYE but your ‘employer’ is US based and not registered as an employer in the UK.

It is also the case that you do not run a Limited Company that is paid by your US ‘employer’. The employer pays you direct?

I am obviously not familiar with all of your case, but my initial thought would be that employment status is the crux of the problem.

To a mortgage underwriter it may we’ll look like you are employing yourself which is not possible in the UK. Until you are employed or registered self employed in the traditional fashion you will continue to have issues.

(Apologies if I have the facts wrong here)

london21

I would be careful with fees. No point paying fees if you can't get the mortgage.
Some brokers can be eager for their fees and ignore the issues.
Earlier in the year the property i purchased no chance of getting a mortgage as the seller was not registered on Land registry but the broker was still pushing it that he will get me a mortgage offer, would not have worked because even with a mortgage offer when it gets to conveyancing stage they will flag it with the mortgage lender.

MWT

amnblog said:

If I remember the previous thread. You consider yourself employed PAYE but your ‘employer’ is US based and not registered as an employer in the UK.

It is also the case that you do not run a Limited Company that is paid by your US ‘employer’. The employer pays you direct?

I am obviously not familiar with all of your case, but my initial thought would be that employment status is the crux of the problem.

If that is factually accurate then I would agree that this is likely to be the problem, I've been in a similar situation for many years but always used a UK company as the actual employer and invoiced the USA 'client' from the company, anything else simply doesn't work well, as all you are doing is declaring foreign earnings which doesn't make you 'employed' in the eyes of HMRC or lenders.

Radicalrooster

Thanks all!

@Tatters26 - My first mortgage advisor didn't require any fees and worked on commission. The subsequent three I have hired since all needed an 'application fee' ranging from £150 - £495 and then when successful an offer fee ranging from £500 - £1,500.

@flashg67 - My contract says my salary is in USD, but my employer is flexible and has mainly paid me in GBP since employed. For two months they paid me in USD just to see if it worked out cheaper for them and whether I would be better off.

@amnblog - That's right. I am UK-based, my employer is US-based. I do not own or run any sort of limited company and I am not registered self-employed. The employer pays me in gross direct to me, I am then left to sort my PAYE and NI each month.

What confuses me is I have a contract from my employer, a letter from the accountants that setup my DD with HMRC and a letter from HMRC themselves all saying I am a permanent, full-time employee. Surely I can't be the only person in the UK with this employment setup? I thought being in 2021 working remote for foreign companies would be more common than ever?

@london21 - I wish I knew this before I was in a desperate situation a few weeks ago! All three said they were confident they could get me a mortgage and my situation wasn't as complex as what they're used to. The most expensive and most 'confident' of the three had to eat their words yesterday after they failed to get me a mortgage they were '99% confident' on because they had 'contact with the senior underwriters'.


I have registered with National Hunter as requested. One of my mortgage advisors is asking for more documents. Another is asking I request being paid in GBP going forward, which I have done.

So I am at a loss... I am not sure what to fix or what to do next? Any advice?

MWT

Radicalrooster said:

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?

You just need one good one, working with, and paying 3 of them is not going to make you more likely to find a mortgage, but it is likely to set off alarm bells if the 3 are making applications on your behalf to the same lenders...

If they are aware that you are working with other advisors then I'm not surprised they asked for at least part-payment up-front as it is wasted time for 2 out of the 3 even if you are successful eventually...

MWT

Radicalrooster said:

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),

You have no UK employer but you are resident for tax purposes in the UK and presumably performing at least part of the work you do physically in the UK, so you are self-employed from a UK perspective.

Presenting yourself as an employee without a UK employer is going to keep tripping you up I suspect...

Did you ever take advice from an accountant on this arrangement?

Radicalrooster

MWT said:

Radicalrooster said:

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),

You have no UK employer but you are resident for tax purposes in the UK and presumably performing at least part of the work you do physically in the UK, so you are self-employed from a UK perspective.

Presenting yourself as an employee without a UK employer is going to keep tripping you up I suspect...

Did you ever take advice from an accountant on this arrangement?

I did! Before I took the job, I approached an accountant who specialises with foreign employment.

It was under their advice that they handle my PAYE and NI via DD to HMRC. They confirmed I would not be self-employed and that my setup is a common one.

As you can imagine, I am incredibly confused receiving contradicting advice for my employment and mortgage from all angles!

On a positive note - My employer said they are willing to do whatever they need to in order to help me secure a mortgage.

What if they were to setup a UK entity/office/address in the UK? And what if they then handled my PAYE and NI like a regular UK employer?

Would that make everything much easier?

MWT

So just to be clear, you currently receive payment, gross, from your US 'employer' to your personal bank account and then your accountant takes money from that account via DD to pay HMRC?

Does the accountant provide you with a P60/P11D each year? ... or is there some other annual summary of what you have paid?

Similarly, do you complete a self-assessment return to HMRC each year and if so, do you declare the earnings on the 'employment' pages and what do you use for the PAYE tax reference?

Just trying to figure out if your accountant is running an 'Umbrella' scheme or something else... (if it is an umbrella then the gross payment shouldn't be going to you though...)