Pay off partners debts before mortgage application?

Dale1978

I am hoping somebody can offer some advise. I am currently looking to buy a house with my partner. I don't own a house and have a cash deposit with no debts. She does own a house and around 10k of loans/credit cards, but enough equity in her current house to pay off this debt and have a deposit for our house.  We are putting her house on the market in the next few weeks. Should i use my money to pay off her debts and then the equity in her house would make the deposit for the new house. Or is it acceptable to have the 10k debt if that will be paid off when her house sells? Hope this makes sense

K_S

@dale1978 Whether keeping the 10k at application will have an impact on how much you can borrow will depend on the numbers and the details.

For example, if you are looking for a high LTV mortgage and need to maximise borrowing, the 10k background debt might be a limiting factor as some lenders (not all) will treat it as ongoing even if you intend to pay it off at completion.

Otoh, your affordability numbers may be good enough that the 10k background debt makes no difference to your borrowing options.

Dale1978

We have approx a 25% deposit, earn around 55k between us and the houses we are looking at are arround 225k

K_S

Dale1978 said:

We have approx a 25% deposit, earn around 55k between us and the houses we are looking at are arround 225k

@dale1978 Based on the limited info in your post - 75% LTV, looking to borrow just above 3x of 55k income, I wouldn't expect the £10k background debt to have an impact on your application.