New year, new mortgage! Mortgage broker?

Ellalou

Looking for a bit of advice! 

Our fixed rate mortgage deal with Clydesdale ends at the end of May this year. I need to sort out mortgage and try get the best deal possible! 

Kind of been putting it off due to the rates but now with the new year I’ll need to sort it. 

Would a mortgage broker be best to try get the best deal? What type is best? How do you choose who to use! 

We have £177000 left outstanding on our mortgage, currently at 3.49%, 22 years left - monthly payment £860. Our home is worth approx £290 - £300k so we do have equity, thankfully

We were hoping to take out about 10k from equity to do home improvements (bathroom).

Where do I start..I’m actually frightened to look at how much this is now going to be! We are both 41 & 42 years old so I suppose we could get a repayment mortgage and increase the term (in the short term) to keep monthly payments as low as possible? 

Thanks! L x

ACG

It probably wont be massively more than your are paying now. Rates have been under 2% for a while and to then go from sub 2% to around 4.5% is a huge jump. For you, being on 3.5% to 4.5%ish probably wont look too bad - although I am saying that and its you guys who have to find the money. 

I think our mortgage is slightly smaller than yours but over a few more years and it added about £120 a month when my rate went from around 1.5% to around 2.5%, so if you work on the assumption it will add around £150, you probably wont be a million miles out. 

Yours sound relatively straight forward in all honesty so its not one of those where you need a broker, but if you want to use a broker they can help to narrow down on the products and take a lot of the stress away. 

Ellalou

Thank you! 2.5% on yours is a great deal! Did you manage to remortgage early before the increases? 

I’m wondering how the rates are going to go this year…I hope they settle down for everyone! 

ACG

Sort of, I applied in March/April when rates started to go up, I just let the offer sit there until July time and then I had to either complete of cancel. I had to pay an ERC, but it looks like I made the right decision. 

I think rates will be a lot calmer this year, but by all accounts there is still room for the base rate to go up a little more. I am not quite sure what that means for mortgage rates though. 

Ellalou

Thanks, sounds like you got a really good deal! 

I just created a new post about the Newcastle Building Society. I did some searching and they seem to have a good deal : 

2 year fix - 3.29% - max loan to value 80%

Not sure I could get anything better than that in the current market? 

ACG

I could be wrong, happy to be corrected but I cant imagine it being fixed at 3.29%. I reckon that is more likely to be variable.
That being said, I have not made any new applications since before Christmas, so rates could have changed in that time. 

needadvicehere

Hi all, I'd appreciate anyone's views particularly for those who have had experience of this (especially if you are broker, advisor, BDM or underwriter!)

I'd like to put in an application with Halifax. I reside in the UK and pay UK taxes. I will be joining a US-based firm who's got a worldwide presence including London. I will be relying on the income of my new job that will be commencing within 3 months. My salary is quoted in USD, however it will be paid directly in GBP. I am confident that my payslip will only show GBP as the only currency.

However, Halifax pre-approvals team have said that they would be unable to consider my future income as it originates in USD. I do not agree with this, given I will be paid directly in GBP (albeit within a fixed range). 

Further, most American-headquartered firms will quote their London-based front office and senior management employees' salaries in USD, but they will definitely be paid in GBP (otherwise how could one survive in England!). The US-pegged salaries are also likely to be subject to a cap/collar (floor/ceiling), meaning the salary will not fluctuate out of the range despite FX exchange fluctuation.

Anyone has had this but managed to get a mortgage from Halifax (or another high street lender)? Doesn't make sense to me if most American-headquartered London firms can't get a mortgage in UK!

JMA74

If you are paid in USD and it is converted to GBP when you receive it then you are still paid in USD.  Is your USD salary fixed or is your GBP salary fixed?  If the latter then Halifax will do it if you present it in the right way, if its not fixed in GBP then its a foreign income based mortgage and Halifax wont touch it. 

Its nothing to do with where a firm has an HQ, its to do with what currency drives your pay.    I have just done a case with a UK resident, working in norway, to a firm that has a hq in singapore, and is paid in USD which is converted to GBP......thats a USD case as thats what drives his actual pay

Other high street lenders will do it though no problems.  Just not for Halifax

needadvicehere

JMA74 said:

If you are paid in USD and it is converted to GBP when you receive it then you are still paid in USD.  Is your USD salary fixed or is your GBP salary fixed?  If the latter then Halifax will do it if you present it in the right way, if its not fixed in GBP then its a foreign income based mortgage and Halifax wont touch it. 

Its nothing to do with where a firm has an HQ, its to do with what currency drives your pay.    I have just done a case with a UK resident, working in norway, to a firm that has a hq in singapore, and is paid in USD which is converted to GBP......thats a USD case as thats what drives his actual pay

Other high street lenders will do it though no problems.  Just not for Halifax

Hi JMA74, thanks for your prompt response, appreciate it.

My USD salary is fixed. My employer can confirm via a reference letter that I will be paid GBP [X] to GBP [Y] per annum, meaning I will be paid in sterling pounds.

I am also a UK-taxed resident living and working in the UK. It is just the remuneration structure of American-headquartered firms which is pretty commonplace.

Do you think the above is feasible? Which high street lenders are you aware of (apart from HSBC and Santander)?

needadvicehere

JMA74 said:

If you are paid in USD and it is converted to GBP when you receive it then you are still paid in USD.  Is your USD salary fixed or is your GBP salary fixed?  If the latter then Halifax will do it if you present it in the right way, if its not fixed in GBP then its a foreign income based mortgage and Halifax wont touch it. 

Its nothing to do with where a firm has an HQ, its to do with what currency drives your pay.    I have just done a case with a UK resident, working in norway, to a firm that has a hq in singapore, and is paid in USD which is converted to GBP......thats a USD case as thats what drives his actual pay

Other high street lenders will do it though no problems.  Just not for Halifax

To add to the above, my employer is a UK-registered firm, although it is headquartered in US.

I have seen other OPs describing themselves as an 'employee' working for a company abroad but are based in the UK, or that they don't pay UK taxes, or that they just work abroad but wishes to purchase a property in the UK. However, my case is just relatively straightforward - I live in the UK, work a for UK-registered firm, pay UK taxes, and will have a payslip which only shows GBP salary.

Do you know of any chances?

JMA74

You will get a mortgage but it 100% wont be with Halifax unless you omit important details that will be discovered when you are asked for the contract (which you definitely will be since you don't have payslips) 

Santander, HSBC, Natwest are the usual for foreign currency on the high street. 

Natwest will do but not ahead of time.
Santander will do it from start date
Hsbc will do it in advance but only take a 20% uplift in pay