Remortgaging and cancer

almost

Hello, I’m wondering if anyone has any advice for our situation. Please be gentle, I’m not at my best.

Our situation:
I was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and have had major surgery to remove the tumour. They think they got it all so no chemotherapy. When I was diagnosed I was 3 months into a new job that had a 6 month probation period. My employers have continued to pay me full pay while I have been off (I’ll be forever grateful for this). I am waiting for a meeting to discuss how I will return to work as I have been off for five months and they can’t keep paying me - so there may be some months coming up where I am not paid depending on when I can restart.

Our current fixed mortgage with first direct comes to an end in February. Since getting the mortgage we’ve got married and had a baby and have nursery costs that are more than our mortgage each month. 

Some specifics:
Remaining mortgage £158k 
Original house cost £314k
Approx house value £350k
Our savings £75k

Current mortgage per month £800

my salary £55k
husband (self employed) approx £30k

We have been saving up to get a loft conversion but I think we’ve given up on that with current circumstances and cost of living etc.

We have no debt or other borrowing aside from the mortgage. 

I’m wondering what we should do, I’m very concerned my probation status and potential loss of earnings and cancer will stop us getting another mortgage. This year has been so hard. I think I’be got quite low and can’t think of the best thing to do. 

Thank you for any advice you can give x

ACG

Im really sorry to hear of the situation, fingers crossed for you. On the upside you look to be in a good financial situation with plenty of savings so hopefully that allows you to concentrate on recovery. 

The good news is that most lenders allow you to switch products without going through underwriting again. I do not know if FD offer that facility as they do not deal with brokers but I imagine they do. 

Failing that, the cancer itself will not prevent you getting a mortgage. Your payslips (assuming they show sick pay) may do. I think come October/November time, if FD will not allow you to switch products, it might be worth speaking to a broker who can investigate things for you based on your situation at the time. 

K_S

@almost Sorry to hear about your illness and hope you get better soon.

With respect to the mortgage fix coming up in Feb, based on the limited info in your post, the least stressful option would likely be to do a product-switch/rate-switch/product-transfer and stay with FirstDirect on a new fix. This usually involves no income checks, no credit checks, no underwriting and no requirement to declare that your circumstances are unchanged.

I don't have any experience of FD (as its a direct only lender) but as a mainstream lender owned by HSBC, I would expect their PT rates to be competitive so you are unlikely to be overpaying by too much compared to re-mortgaging to a new lender.

zagubov

I'm mortgaged with FD. When our fix expired we were automatically switched to a (much less favourable) variable rate. 

Advice on here was that we could apply for another fix without the financial scrutiny etc. but in our case they did put us under the microscope; the reason was that we were switching from an interest-only offset mortgage to a repayment mortgage and these count as fundamentally different products and we were treated as new applicants.

If they're still applying those rules my guess would be they'll offer you a retention product as a familiar current customer without too much scrutiny.

Good luck.

Voyager2002

Wishing you all the best in your difficult life situation.

As matters stand your mortgage is around 50 per cent of your house value, making you very attractive to most lenders.. Moreover, your savings are sufficient to reduce your mortgage to less than £90K, at which point your husband's income by itself would be enough to support the necessary borrowing.

dimbo61

Have a look on the First direct website for new deals for existing customers.
You may need your mortgage details or sign up to the FD website.
Many lenders allow you to secure a new deal 3/6 months before your current fix ends.
Consider the suitability of your current home and your future needs ! 
Do you want to stay in the area ?
Would you like a bungalow or a move closer to family ?
We lived in a super 3 storey four bed house but we must have walked 10,000 steps a day just getting up to our bedroom each day.
Consider the long term needs of all the family and take things easy.
Enjoy time with your family and take care of yourself