Mortgage for house not near work

AprilHeather

Apologies if this has been asked recently, but when I searched the forum I couldn’t find anything post-Covid when working patterns significantly changed:
My husband works 2 days in work and works from home the rest of the time. His job is in the midlands and we would like to buy a house in the Scottish Borders. Would mortgage lenders reject us thinking we were potentially trying to buy to let with such a distance between work and home? Or has this changed post-Covid with wfh much more normalised? I intend to leave my job and will find work in Scotland after the move, so I wouldn’t be on the mortgage but myself and the children would be living in the house all the time. It would be my husband staying away 2 nights a week….but he’d be the one on the mortgage. 

K_S

@aprilheather It's not terribly uncommon and I have had a few clients over the years in similar situations.

As long as the plans are plausible, the costs of staying away 2 days a week is factored in and the mortgage is affordable (as per lender calculations) then the mortgage part of the equation should be fairly straightforward.

AprilHeather said:

Apologies if this has been asked recently, but when I searched the forum I couldn’t find anything post-Covid when working patterns significantly changed:
My husband works 2 days in work and works from home the rest of the time. His job is in the midlands and we would like to buy a house in the Scottish Borders. Would mortgage lenders reject us thinking we were potentially trying to buy to let with such a distance between work and home? Or has this changed post-Covid with wfh much more normalised? I intend to leave my job and will find work in Scotland after the move, so I wouldn’t be on the mortgage but myself and the children would be living in the house all the time. It would be my husband staying away 2 nights a week….but he’d be the one on the mortgage. 

AprilHeather

Thank you @K_S that’s really helpful to know 

CSL0183

AprilHeather said:

Apologies if this has been asked recently, but when I searched the forum I couldn’t find anything post-Covid when working patterns significantly changed:
My husband works 2 days in work and works from home the rest of the time. His job is in the midlands and we would like to buy a house in the Scottish Borders. Would mortgage lenders reject us thinking we were potentially trying to buy to let with such a distance between work and home? Or has this changed post-Covid with wfh much more normalised? I intend to leave my job and will find work in Scotland after the move, so I wouldn’t be on the mortgage but myself and the children would be living in the house all the time. It would be my husband staying away 2 nights a week….but he’d be the one on the mortgage. 

Financially you would best be buying on the English side of the border as you will be hit by Scotlands punitive taxation rates. 

LBTT (Stamp Duty) is much higher in Scotland. Income tax if you are a good earner too is quite a bit higher. (£50k income will see you taxed about £1500 per year more) 

Mortgage wise, not an issue. In this day and age, remote working is common place. 

[Deleted User]

Hi @AprilHeather, I also live in Scotland and my head office is in Yorkshire, though I work from home. I have just had a mortgage approved today. As K_S said, this is more and more common and many people work from home at a different location nowadays, which I'm sure lenders appreciate post-Covid.

P.S. Scottish Borders is a beautiful area. I considered buying there too. Best of luck!

AprilHeather

Thank @CSL0183, I’d really prefer to be in Scotland but taxation is definitely something to think about for the sake of a few miles!!
@Deleted_User thank you for sharing; glad to hear it is possible and congratulations on your mortgage approval 😊