Can I get a mortgage if separated?

luju

I am married but separated from my husband. We haven’t separated legally and we do not plan to get a divorce for personal reasons. 
I would like to buy my own house but am concerned about how lenders may view my situation. 

Do you think I would be given a mortgage or would lenders presume we will divorce so too high risk?
To add, we signed prenuptial agreement drawn up prior to our marriage. 

Many thanks 

luju

luju said:

I am married but separated from my husband. We haven’t separated legally and we do not plan to get a divorce for personal reasons. 
I would like to buy my own house but am concerned about how lenders may view my situation. 

Do you think I would be given a mortgage or would lenders presume we will divorce so too high risk?
To add, we signed prenuptial agreement drawn up prior to our marriage. 

Many thanks 

To add further, my husband owns his own property to the value of £800,000 and is in a strong financial position. Our situation is amicable and we have a good relationship so there is no risk of my husband attempting to make claims on my finances etc. 

MovingForwards

You can get a mortgage, but will have to pay 2nd home stamp duty or the equivalent wherever you are in the UK.

While things are amicable now, they may not remain that way in the future.

Look into a legal separation and ensure you have a valid will.

MWT

MovingForwards said:

You can get a mortgage, but will have to pay 2nd home stamp duty or the equivalent wherever you are in the UK.

Not necessarily on the SDLT...

As long as there is an agreement that the separation is permanent, even without a court order, the 3% 2nd home component will not apply.

luju

Thanks for your response.  Just to be clear I am not asking advice in regards to the SDLT, I know my position on this.  I am asking advice about how lenders would view my situation regarding a mortgage offer.

Thrugelmir

luju said:

luju said:

I am married but separated from my husband. We haven’t separated legally and we do not plan to get a divorce for personal reasons. 
I would like to buy my own house but am concerned about how lenders may view my situation. 

Do you think I would be given a mortgage or would lenders presume we will divorce so too high risk?
To add, we signed prenuptial agreement drawn up prior to our marriage. 

Many thanks 

Our situation is amicable and we have a good relationship so there is no risk of my husband attempting to make claims on my finances etc. 

Lenders will take a legalistic view of the situation. As it's their money that's at risk not yours. 

MWT

luju said:

Thanks for your response.  Just to be clear I am not asking advice in regards to the SDLT, I know my position on this.  I am asking advice about how lenders would view my situation regarding a mortgage offer.

Understood, just needed to make the SDLT part clear for other readers.

You need to talk to a broker, but as long as you have the income and can demonstrate the committent to permanent separation, I would have thought there will be lenders who would give you a mortgage. 

luju

Thrugelmir said:

luju said:

luju said:

I am married but separated from my husband. We haven’t separated legally and we do not plan to get a divorce for personal reasons. 
I would like to buy my own house but am concerned about how lenders may view my situation. 

Do you think I would be given a mortgage or would lenders presume we will divorce so too high risk?
To add, we signed prenuptial agreement drawn up prior to our marriage. 

Many thanks 

Our situation is amicable and we have a good relationship so there is no risk of my husband attempting to make claims on my finances etc. 

Lenders will take a legalistic view of the situation. As it's their money that's at risk not yours. 

Thanks. Do you think my husbands stronger financial position will be taken into account by the lender when they are analysing risk?

MWT

Your brokers opinion is most useful here, but no, I would not have thought that was a direct factor as you will not be providing his details to your lender, only yours.

Demonstrating the sufficiency of your income and the way in which you show the permanence of your separation will be the important part, especially if that makes it clear that you are both waiving any financial claims on each other, as that would go to reducing the risk of there being consequences from a subsequent divorce if it ever happened.

luju

MWT said:

Your brokers opinion is most useful here, but no, I would not have thought that was a direct factor as you will not be providing his details to your lender, only yours.

Demonstrating the sufficiency of your income and the way in which you show the permanence of your separation will be the important part, especially if that makes it clear that you are both waiving any financial claims on each other, as that would go to reducing the risk of there being consequences from a subsequent divorce if it ever happened.

Many thanks. In terms of demonstrating each of us waiving financial claims on each other, how can I do this in a way that will be acceptable to the lender and ensure I am given a mortgage? We have been living apart for a number of years and signed a prenup, I am unsure if this will be enough for them?

MWT

A prenup isn't going to be any use in showing the intent to permanently separate to either a lender or HMRC for that matter (SDLT).

You are going to have to take the first step and talk to a broker and see what they recommend based on their experience with various lenders.

Even if you are not planning to file a legal separation there has to be something you can agree in writing between you to evidence the separation and its permanence.

In short, lenders and HMRC are not just going to take your word for it without something that shows you both share the same intent to make the separation permanent, not suggesting this is the case, but, for example, you can't claim to be permanently separated without your husband being aware of it, just to get a loan and avoid SDLT...

Take advice on this so you can proceed with something sensible documented between you both.