Mortgages & Gambling

rustygoldfish

Hi all,

I am currently in the process of applying for a mortgage and the broker has asked for 3 months bank statements from all bank accounts I have.

My main account, the one my salary gets paid into is with NatWest and has no gambling transactions on it, but there are transfers on there to my Revolut account which does have gambling transactions on which could be deemed excessive. I have never got into debt because of gambling, have never taken out a loan for gambling and it's always been affordable and something I spend my discretionary income on.

I'm worried that if I provide my NatWest statement, and they see the transfers out to another account, they may request bank statements for that account and it'll be game over for my mortgage application. Does anybody have any direct experience with this situation, and do you have any advice?

We are fortunate enough to have up to a £250k deposit, and are buying a house for £565k, but would like to put a £115k deposit down so we have money to do the property up. If needed, we can increase the deposit if it would make the lender happy, but again, unsure if it works like that.

Any advice would be much appreciated, especially if you're a broker or a mortgage underwriter!

Isthisforreal99

What does your broker say?

Define 'deemed excessive'? Hundreds, thousands ?

itsthelittlethings

If they have asked for bank stataments from all bank accounts I think that's what they want, at the extreme concealing accounts could be mortgage fraud.

ACG

Speak to your broker. The worst thing you can do is try to hide it. Let them know and they can deal with it in advance. Hide it and it might come out down the line.

There are lenders who may not ask for statements in certain circumstances.

There are lenders who wont care and will just treat it as though you were spending it at the pub or something.

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6654905/mortgages-gambling

I appreciate you intimate the situation is under control, but it's not a healthy habit to have and highly addictive.

So much so, that it could cause someone who might be planning to buy a house to continue gambling, despite knowing they need to provide bank statements to the lender.

I don't think getting into debt or taking out a loan for gambling is necessarily a one-size-fits-all indicator of a problem, as by this definition someone that inherits half a million pounds and gambles away half of it doesn't have a problem because they didn't go into debt or take out a loan. You've said yourself the gambling could be considered excessive.

It is a slippery slope you are on, but the first step is realising there is a problem. I suspect we're not talking about the odd £5 a month on your team to win.

ACG

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81881369#Comment_81881369

In this case, they have separated their money. They are not going overdrawn and presumably have built up some savings. None of that suggests they are even at the start of a slippery slope.

It is their spare money to do with what they like. Going out for meals, to the pub, ordering pointless stuff off amazon… If it is your spare money, you know not to go chasing the money to the point where you are able to sit on savings without dipping into it, that suggests its just a hobby rather than an addiction.

Saying it could be deemed excessive is subjective so is not wrong to raise it.

My FIL gambles more or less daily on football, darts and the horses. He has done it for 50 years. He has never wracked up debt. He has never been able to save up money to buy his own home but I suppose thats his choice. They go on holiday 2-3 times a year, the bills are paid and there is food on the table. Its not my way of living, I think there is an element of addiciton with him, but a managed one and he has been the same for the 15-20 years I have known him.

Exodi

In this case, they have separated their money. They are not going overdrawn and presumably have built up some savings. None of that suggests they are even at the start of a slippery slope.

But this really depends on the circumstances, either of us could be correct.

Ponder a scenario where the only reason the money is in a different account is because the the person doesn't want their partner to know the extent of their gambling, and the only reason they are not going overdrawn is because they're working their way through a large inheritance they had received.

I'm not suggesting that this is the circumstances of the OP, but just to say that neither of us can definitively state whether the OP has a problem or not (which I accept I did earlier, my mistake).

It is their spare money to do with what they like. Going out for meals, to the pub, ordering pointless stuff off amazon…

But we wouldn't apply that logic to a substance addict. I think the point is it's fine up to a certain point.

Who knows whether the OP is at that point or not. The only reason I made my comment is on the two things we do know 1) they state their gambling could be deemed as excessive 2) they have continued gambling despite applying for a mortgage. Both of these things in my mind tip the scales in the direction of there being a problem, but there is very little detail so I accept it's certainly not conclusive.

My FIL gambles more or less daily on football, darts and the horses. He has done it for 50 years. He has never wracked up debt.

I realise I sound like a prude or living in a bubble but likewise my best friend from my younger years would always empty his wallet on the fruit machine every time we went out. Nowadays he is a high earner living in London and still spends a large part of his discretionary income on gambling but, similar to your FIL, never went into any real debt over it. I understand it is possible to gamble, potentially even develop a minor gambling addiction, without it automatically always leading into the ruinous debt horror stories we hear.

In hindsight, I would have reworded my post to not be so terminal and throw in a load of "could lead to" and "may become"!