Can we get a mortgage? Type of likely rates advice if possible

PanPen

We want to sell our current house and move. I am wondering if we would be able to get a mortgage and would like some advice if possible. 

We had some mortgage problems up until last Spring. This was because my partner's previous company cut him down on days as the business was struggling. Our mortgage company wouldn't really help. We had some arrears but since Spring last year when he was finally able to find a new job in his field his income has basically doubled. So the arrears haven't risen, we have actually paid off a large chunk of them leaving around £2000. We have been paying the mortgage in full and sometime a bit extra each month since he started the new job.

Other than that our credit is clean, no loans, no credit cards, no HP. 

So can anyone advise if we are likely to get a new mortgage and an approx likelihood of the kind of rates please if possible. 

Joint applications combined basic salary of £63500
One applicant gets regular provable overtime which since May 23 has produced around an extra £5000.

If we sell current house we would have about a £270k deposit. 

We are 51 and are likely to retire at 68-70.

Would anyone lend? What would be the likely maximum? What sort of rates?

Many thanks 

sammyjammy

What exactly have the mortgage company reported on your credit file?

born_again

Might be better going via a mortgage broker, as they will know who will be best to approach given your history.

ACG

Who is your current mortgage with? 
It sounds like you are still in arrears. If you have a mortgage with a high street lender, you might be able to do a product switch either now or once the arrears are up to date. Any new lender is likely to be much higher, how high would depend on your credit report and the LTV - a job for a broker, but it is unlikely to less than maybe 6.5-7% but quite possibly higher. 

PanPen

sammyjammy said:

What exactly have the mortgage company reported on your credit file?

This is why it's frustrating. We've been paying in full and on time every month since last April, but the account has showed as 1 month in arrears all that time.  Which I know it is, but that is only part of the story.  

PanPen

ACG said:

Who is your current mortgage with? 
It sounds like you are still in arrears. If you have a mortgage with a high street lender, you might be able to do a product switch either now or once the arrears are up to date. Any new lender is likely to be much higher, how high would depend on your credit report and the LTV - a job for a broker, but it is unlikely to less than maybe 6.5-7% but quite possibly higher. 

Ideally we would be looking to buy a house around £550ish, so have 50% deposit. 
Do you think we have the multiples to get that? We've been on a rate of 8.25% so anything less would be good.  I assume a broker would be able to explain the background and our statements would confirm the original poor salary and the now massively increased one to show why things happened but are now different. 

housebuyer143

Honestly, I don't think any cheaper high street lender is looking at you with mortgage arrears and a recent default. Your best bet is to clear the arrears asap, and wait a good amount of time for it to look more historic.
By all means speak to a broker, but if they do find you someone, with current arrears it's going to be on a very high rate.

RelievedSheff

You need to clear your arrears and have a good run of your credit file as showing up to date before you even think of the prospect of moving house or lender.

Put yourself in a lenders shoes for a minute. Would you lend a large sum of money to someone who is not up to date with their current commitments?

You will also need to downgrade your expectations of what a lender is going to lend you. You are expecting to borrow £280k on a combined salary of £63k, that's 4.5 times your salary (before any other financial commitments are taken into account) which just isn't going to happen with recent adverse reporting on your credit file.

ACG

Im not sure if the affordability is there, that is very tight. 

I will be honest, I would not feel comfortable maxing out your affordability on a rate of 7-8% even if it could be done. 

PanPen

Thanks all. We aren't unhappy where we are so it's not a problem. I just wondered if it was possible. Sounds unlikely for now. Really appreciate the advice. I reckon we can carry on paying the mortgage and clear the arrears remaining over the next three months. 

Having done this, how long do you think ideally we should wait before everything looks application worthy if we decided to try moving?

We have low outgoings in general, hence being able to clear most of the arrears since the new job started.  So I'd hope at some point we maybe could try. 

Again thanks so much for your honesty and plain speaking. It's saved me overthinking. 

ACG

There are positives, the fact that you are in essence showing you can afford more than your mortgage payment over a period of time shows the higher repayments are affordable - but I feel like a dodgy MP saying that as its putting a very positive spin on a very negative thing. 

You could potentially do it now (you would have more options once the arrears are cleared for 6 months). I am not saying it cant be done. I am just thinking that there are a lot of things to consider (as a broker) and being able to do something is different to doing it.