First time buyer - affordability checks.

Rtj123

I’m 35, never owned a home and my partner is 45, previously owned a home years ago and now renting. We have a combined income of around 35k. Me 12k (self employed, part time) and my partner 25k, full time. We have a deposit of around 16k and are looking at houses around the 160k mark.

I’m unsure whether I would qualify for a first time buyer mortgage because my partner has previously owned a house and they are the higher earner? Also, when they do affordability checks, do they combine both our incomes for the checks? And what do they check? Our lifestyle? We do a lot at weekends at the moment but we realise that when we get a mortgage we will have to scale back. With me earning less, obviously it will be more difficult for me to pay the same amount my partner on the mortgage, but is this relevant if we are both on the mortgage? We have agreed a percentage of what we will each pay. With partner being 45, we would be looking at a 30 year mortgage (at the moment) as the monthly repayments are more affordable. Will our ages cause concern? Any guidance and help would be very much appreciated. Thankyou.

El_Torro

You're asking to borrow about £144k, which is just over 4 times your combined salaries. A bit on the high side, especially considering that you are both low earners. I would go for it though, see what the lenders say.

Lenders don't particularly care that you won't be paying 50% each of the mortgage. That's why they assess your combined income. I don't see why you would get a first time buyer mortgage, since your partner is not a first time buyer.

A 30 year mortgage should be OK. However you might be a bit limited as some lenders only like to lend until 70, not 75 or 80.

brown_crow

Most high street lenders cap at 4.5 times for standard cases, so you are inside the limit but with little headroom. Your self-employed income will need two years of accounts or tax returns, and lenders assess the lower of your salary and averaged profits.