Move to temporary address before mortgage application... help!

happydaisy11

Hi,

Due to a separation my house is sold and completion is likely to be the middle of February. Once the sale completes my 2 children and myself will move to my mum's.

I am looking to buy a shared ownership property nearby and have been told these are being released soon, likely within a month of my sale completing, however the estate agent cannot give me an exact date. I have the finance figures for the shared ownership and have applied and received a mortgage in principle.

I will update my driving license, bank statements and the electoral roll as soon as I move, along with everything else. However, I'm very worried about the impact moving so close to applying might have on my full mortgage application, especially if the electoral roll hasn't updated the credit reference agencies before I submit.

I will have to be quick with applying for the shared ownership property as it's first come first served, so I can't even wait around to let everything update first if the new homes are released within a week or so of my move, and it's usually 28 days to exchange with shared ownership.

Has anyone been in a similar situation before? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've waited so long to get to this point, I will be devastated to miss out on securing one of the shared ownership homes. Is there anything I can do?

Thank you in advance.

dimbo61

Make sure you set up mail redirection.
Have you got a solicitor ?

happydaisy11

dimbo61 said:

Make sure you set up mail redirection.
Have you got a solicitor ?

I haven't yet, the homes haven't been released so I can't even apply for one or get things rolling. It would probably be better if the release was a couple of months after I move to get things sorted but I don't think that'll be the case. 

ACG

Its not ideal, but there is not much you can do about it. There is no point worrying about something outside of your control, just worry about the parts that are within your control. 

This could be an issue with some lenders, a bigger issue if you have any other issues (ie a new job, adverse etc), but it should not be a deal breaker. It will make it harder to pass a credit check, but there are so many factors to that, it will just form a part of it. 

As a worst case scenario, there are some smaller lenders who credit check rather than credit score - their rates will probably be marginally higher but not excessively so. 

It might be worth chatting to a broker. 

ManekiNeko

I'm not sure if it's allowed, but I can't see any harm in you just doing ahead and changing your addresses across to your mum's address now? Given you'll be moving there in a fortnight anyway, and it won't in the technical sense be a temporary address - it's your new permanent address, until the stage where you're able to move home again. Although I suppose it would be a pain if for any reason the completion was delayed.

I do know you can ask the council for a letter to confirm your registration on the electoral roll, I've had PDF letters emailed over before to show this when I've needed it. So you could ask the bank you'd like to apply to if they'd accept this, but overall I'd probably say a broker will be able to guide you through the process most effectively.

Also, although you wouldn't want to employ a solicitor or surveyor yet, it wouldn't hurt to get quotes and decide which one you'd like to use. That way you'll be ready to get things started ASAP. I got some good quotes for surveyors off Really Moving, an MSE rec.

I'm a bit surprised that it's usually just 28 days to buy a shared ownership home - what about the searches, surely they could take longer to come back?

happydaisy11

ManekiNeko said:

I'm not sure if it's allowed, but I can't see any harm in you just doing ahead and changing your addresses across to your mum's address now? Given you'll be moving there in a fortnight anyway, and it won't in the technical sense be a temporary address - it's your new permanent address, until the stage where you're able to move home again. Although I suppose it would be a pain if for any reason the completion was delayed.

I do know you can ask the council for a letter to confirm your registration on the electoral roll, I've had PDF letters emailed over before to show this when I've needed it. So you could ask the bank you'd like to apply to if they'd accept this, but overall I'd probably say a broker will be able to guide you through the process most effectively.

Also, although you wouldn't want to employ a solicitor or surveyor yet, it wouldn't hurt to get quotes and decide which one you'd like to use. That way you'll be ready to get things started ASAP. I got some good quotes for surveyors off Really Moving, an MSE rec.

I'm a bit surprised that it's usually just 28 days to buy a shared ownership home - what about the searches, surely they could take longer to come back?

Thank you for replying. Yes, I had been thinking that, I might wait till exchange and then start the update process.

That's very useful to know about a confirmation letter from the council. I will definitely look to get one which I could submit with my application. 

Yes, I've got quotes for solicitors and know who I'd like to use so I'm ready to go on that.

I think it's 28 days to exchange and then depending on the stage of the build possibly a delayed completion. This isn't the first phase of shared ownership on the development which I  think speeds up the searches, I could be wrong about that but I'm sure I read that somewhere. 

Thank you again for taking the time to reply to me. :-)

Newbiefirsttimesilobuyer2023

I’ve just been in the exact situation as I moved house to a temporary address before applying for my shared ownership mortgage. I managed to change my bank statements to weekly so I was able to generate a new statement relatively quickly as my mortgage broker requested that I have at least one statement showing my new address. I changed my driver’s licence and added myself to the electoral register and I had no issues at all! P.S I was in the first phase of release so the checks do take longer but I agree it is likely to be much quicker for those in the following releases. All the best to you and your family, it will all work out. 

dimbo61

You will be in a good position because you have the money in the bank to pay for your share of the SO.
I would redirect the mail for 6 months and inform as many organisations as quickly as possible.
Council tax, driving licence, electoral role, etc
Good Luck in getting the new place

happydaisy11

Newbiefirsttimesilobuyer2023 said:

I’ve just been in the exact situation as I moved house to a temporary address before applying for my shared ownership mortgage. I managed to change my bank statements to weekly so I was able to generate a new statement relatively quickly as my mortgage broker requested that I have at least one statement showing my new address. I changed my driver’s licence and added myself to the electoral register and I had no issues at all! P.S I was in the first phase of release so the checks do take longer but I agree it is likely to be much quicker for those in the following releases. All the best to you and your family, it will all work out. 

Thanks so much for your reply and the advice, especially on the weekly bank statements, that's a great idea! I'll get all my addresses changed asap and hopefully I won't have any problems either. Thank you again, and all the best to you too. :-)

ManekiNeko

Just to add as well, if you change your address during the buying process at all, your solicitor will be duty bound to inform your mortgage lender. They may be totally fine with it, but might also put your mortgage offer back to the underwriters to start again, which can affect your rate etc. Just try to ask them upfront what would happen if you did this or that to get an idea.

It's definitely smoother if you can change it across ASAP and then don't need to change your address during the process, but obvi it's sometimes unavoidable because life happens so 🤷‍♀️ you won't be the first in the situation I'm sure.

Best wishes with everything, do let us know how it turns out.

happydaisy11

ManekiNeko said:

Just to add as well, if you change your address during the buying process at all, your solicitor will be duty bound to inform your mortgage lender. They may be totally fine with it, but might also put your mortgage offer back to the underwriters to start again, which can affect your rate etc. Just try to ask them upfront what would happen if you did this or that to get an idea.

It's definitely smoother if you can change it across ASAP and then don't need to change your address during the process, but obvi it's sometimes unavoidable because life happens so 🤷‍♀️ you won't be the first in the situation I'm sure.

Best wishes with everything, do let us know how it turns out.

Thank you again. I've only got a DIP at the moment (at my current address) but I'm hoping to have everything changed over to my mum's address before I submit a full application. 

I've been doing a lot of research and changing addresses just before applying for a mortgage or partway through does seem fairly common.

Thanl you, I will update on how everything goes.