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Mortgage declined due to unaffordability, but I can afford it, what can I do to keep my rate?

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I've applied for a Natwest mortgage of £382,500.
This is 90 LTV as I have a 10% deposit of £42500 (the flat I bought costs £425,000).
I applied for a mortgage length of 30 years.
I earn 80k annually with a 10k bonus written into my contract.
I have been at my current company for 2 years and have received 2 annual bonus payments.
My first annual bonus payment was pro-rated for the 2 months I had been there and I received £1908.
My second annual bonus payment was £14,158.

Natwest have taken the average of my two bonus payments, which amounts to £8k, and are using this as reason for my unaffordability, since it's not the £10k figure I provided on my mortgage application and is not guaranteed.

I am due to speak to the underwriter tomorrow to gather more details. As I called Natwest and was given the above info by one of their customer service reps. Is there anything I can do or say or provide that will help me get this mortgage??? I'm at a loss!

If Natwest do not budge does anyone know if asking to change my mortgage length from 30 years to 35 years would work? Or asking to add more to my deposit?

I'm keen to keep my rate of 3.9% so applying for a brand new mortgage with rates of approx 6% is not what I want to do 😭

Comments

  • JMA74
    JMA74 Posts: 264 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    You can play around with the calculator here: https://spa.mortgages.natwest.com/calculator/residential-affordability

    This is the same calculator that the underwriter will be using. 


    With a contractual annual bonus they will use the average of the last 2 payments used and use 100% of that income

    With a non contractual annual bonus they will average the last 2 payments but only use 50%

    The fact your bonus is guaranteed means they are already bumping it up from 50% to 100% so I would be surprised if they then used a different figure than the average.   Never know though, underwriters seem to make it up as they go along sometimes. 


    I am a Mortgage Adviser 
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • JMA74 said:
    You can play around with the calculator here: https://spa.mortgages.natwest.com/calculator/residential-affordability

    This is the same calculator that the underwriter will be using. 


    With a contractual annual bonus they will use the average of the last 2 payments used and use 100% of that income

    With a non contractual annual bonus they will average the last 2 payments but only use 50%

    The fact your bonus is guaranteed means they are already bumping it up from 50% to 100% so I would be surprised if they then used a different figure than the average.   Never know though, underwriters seem to make it up as they go along sometimes. 


    Thank you!! 😊 I played around with the calculator and there is a shortfall of £9k once I put my bonus amounts into the discretionary bonus section. Otherwise I'm within affordability. Do you know how best to proceed so that I can try and secure my rate?
  • JMA74
    JMA74 Posts: 264 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Can you make up the difference?  If so then bring the requested loan amount down and you're sorted.

    I am a Mortgage Adviser 
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • JMA74 said:
    You can play around with the calculator here: https://spa.mortgages.natwest.com/calculator/residential-affordability

    This is the same calculator that the underwriter will be using. 


    With a contractual annual bonus they will use the average of the last 2 payments used and use 100% of that income

    With a non contractual annual bonus they will average the last 2 payments but only use 50%

    The fact your bonus is guaranteed means they are already bumping it up from 50% to 100% so I would be surprised if they then used a different figure than the average.   Never know though, underwriters seem to make it up as they go along sometimes. 


    Thank you!! 😊 I played around with the calculator and there is a shortfall of £9k once I put my bonus amounts into the discretionary bonus section. Otherwise I'm within affordability. Do you know how best to proceed so that I can try and secure my rate?
    There is no way to proceed apart from you making up the shortfall.. They don't lend out more than the calculator tells them they can
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 49,533 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    Similar happened to us, over 10 years ago if that makes a difference. We banked with NatWest and had a personal banking manager. A couple of phone calls to him and it was sorted. I guess at some point a human has to look at the figures and make a decision. How you reach that person is key.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
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