Maternity leave & Mortgage renewal

summerlilly

I’m shortly going on maternity leave, I have 2 mortgages on my property, basically because I staircased to owning it 100% outright. 

I have a few questions that I could really appreciate some steer on; 

1) I recall someone telling me that I could merge the mortgages at some point, I have a variable mortgage on one which I can renew now and the other fixed and due to end in October this year - is there any benefit to merging mortgages? 

2) keeping in mind I’m on maternity leave and single applicant to my mortgage, I am worried that my drop in salary will make renewing difficult (I will be applying for Universal credit which will be sufficient to cover my mortgage) but does this make a difference to renewing? My thought process is to just renew with my current provider to avoid a bigger credit check. 

3) If the advice to merge mortgages doesn’t have any benefit to me, Ive got the offer to renew my variable mortgage on a fixed rate for up to 10 years, is there any pro /con of doing this? I really need to get my finances in slick shape so having some security to lock in a rate while things are so volatile seem like a good idea to me but I don’t know if I’m chaining myself to something terrible for 10 years? 

Any advice would be deeply appreciated, I’m really trying to get myself sorted to enjoy my maternity leave without finances reducing me to tears. 

sammyjammy

You can't merge the mortgages but you can apply for a new mortgage that would pay both of your existing in full, you would be credit checked and checked for affordability just like anyone else, I imagine you would find it difficult to find someone that would take the Universal credit into account as earnings.

If you stick with what you've got then you kind of need to put both on a fixed rate that preferably ends at the same time, this is not the time to stay on a variable rate IMO.

Edi81

I think you mean that you have two sub accounts with the same lender. This isn’t uncommon. 

If your lender allows you to switch product online there are no checks required. 

K_S

summerlilly said:

I’m shortly going on maternity leave, I have 2 mortgages on my property, basically because I staircased to owning it 100% outright. 

I have a few questions that I could really appreciate some steer on; 

1) I recall someone telling me that I could merge the mortgages at some point, I have a variable mortgage on one which I can renew now and the other fixed and due to end in October this year - is there any benefit to merging mortgages? 

2) keeping in mind I’m on maternity leave and single applicant to my mortgage, I am worried that my drop in salary will make renewing difficult (I will be applying for Universal credit which will be sufficient to cover my mortgage) but does this make a difference to renewing? My thought process is to just renew with my current provider to avoid a bigger credit check. 

3) If the advice to merge mortgages doesn’t have any benefit to me, Ive got the offer to renew my variable mortgage on a fixed rate for up to 10 years, is there any pro /con of doing this? I really need to get my finances in slick shape so having some security to lock in a rate while things are so volatile seem like a good idea to me but I don’t know if I’m chaining myself to something terrible for 10 years? 

Any advice would be deeply appreciated, I’m really trying to get myself sorted to enjoy my maternity leave without finances reducing me to tears. 

@summerlilly           

1. There can be some benefits to having just one mortgage part instead of two as you may not have to worry about two different fix end dates, it can be easier/cheaper to change lenders, etc. You won't be able to 'merge' parts while staying the with same lender.

2. 'Renewing' with your current lender is usually termed as a product-switch/rate-switch/product-transfer. As long as there is no change in term or borrowing amount, this process should involve no credit-checks, income verification, underwriting, etc.

3. Some of the pros and cons of fixing for a long period are discussed here, perhaps that will help you make a more informed choice. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6357593/are-10-year-fixeds-bonkers/p1