Overpayments, remortgaging, maternity leave

jeaniemsm

Yawn said:

Three quick points:

1) even when you remortgage elsewhere, they are not allowed to ask you whether you are pregnant, etc. as that would be discrimination (only if you think your circumstances might change, and pregnancies could also be unforeseen)
2) you have quite a long time horizon, so I don't understand your concerns about maternity leave; you have quite a bit of time to have a child, take leave, and return to work (if that's what you're planning). In any case if you stay with the same provider, there won't be any checks. I temporarily had little income before I remortgaged with the same bank and it was totally fine.
3) given that interest rates on savings are much higher than your interest rate, it's better to save than pay off your mortgage. You can do so penalty free when your fixed term ends. Regular savers are a very good idea.

Thanks Yawn, re point 2 I just like to plan ahead as much as I can, we're fixed till Jan 26 so have 3 more years to go, but who knows when I'll get pregnant or if a 2nd would be on the way by then!

Currently saving right now, and we both each have thought about overpaying a little each month (basically a small portion of whatever we each have left over each month after mortgage, savings, bills, personal spending etc).
 I'm really trying to get to the 60% LTV before the fixed is up in the hopes that we can secure a good rate.

Initially it did worry me a bit about being on mat leave/ part time that when we need to remortgage, that the house would be deemed unaffordable based on a single salary, but based on answers here, it seems we should be ok

MFWannabe

jeaniemsm said:

Yawn said:

Three quick points:

1) even when you remortgage elsewhere, they are not allowed to ask you whether you are pregnant, etc. as that would be discrimination (only if you think your circumstances might change, and pregnancies could also be unforeseen)
2) you have quite a long time horizon, so I don't understand your concerns about maternity leave; you have quite a bit of time to have a child, take leave, and return to work (if that's what you're planning). In any case if you stay with the same provider, there won't be any checks. I temporarily had little income before I remortgaged with the same bank and it was totally fine.
3) given that interest rates on savings are much higher than your interest rate, it's better to save than pay off your mortgage. You can do so penalty free when your fixed term ends. Regular savers are a very good idea.

Thanks Yawn, re point 2 I just like to plan ahead as much as I can, we're fixed till Jan 26 so have 3 more years to go, but who knows when I'll get pregnant or if a 2nd would be on the way by then!

Currently saving right now, and we both each have thought about overpaying a little each month (basically a small portion of whatever we each have left over each month after mortgage, savings, bills, personal spending etc).
 I'm really trying to get to the 60% LTV before the fixed is up in the hopes that we can secure a good rate.

Initially it did worry me a bit about being on mat leave/ part time that when we need to remortgage, that the house would be deemed unaffordable based on a single salary, but based on answers here, it seems we should be ok

For your peace of mind why don’t you make some overpayments as well as save? This way you’ll feel better knowing you’re paying it down a bit more