Student Mortgages

greyskymorning

Hello all. Someone suggest I post my questions about student mortgages here, so I'll just copy and paste my thread from the House Buying forum, with some added info:

I'll explain a little about my situation first. I'm 20, and I've been working for the past three years. I'm going to be entering higher education again in September, and my partner is going to be starting his University course at the same time. I've managed to save up a deposit (I'll have about £5000 for the deposit in July) for either a 90% 50k flat, or a 95% 60k flat. I have a meeting with Halifax (my bank) next week in order to try and arrange a guarantor/student mortgage.

So my first question is, is there anyone who could advise me how easy this will be to get under my current circumstance? My guarantor is my father who owns his own house and makes about £70k a year and I have my own deposit. Also, as there are two of us moving in to the house meeting mortgage repayments shouldn't be a problem with student loans (due to new legislation, we'd each be taking in about £588 a month, for a total of £1176 before grants, bursaries, etc.) and part time work to supplement this. Additionally, with the credit crunch and the housing market slumping, with this type of mortgage can I expect to still get a 95% LTV? A lot of banks were doing 100% LTVs on student mortgages, but I'm not sure if this will still be available to me?

My second question is, I've seen a lot of properties of non-standard construction in Dundee that would suit our needs and are of, obviously, a relatively low price. Does anyone know how I can find out who built them/the materials they are made from? Also, would this be a wise move for a FTB (we will be in the flat for between five and six years).

UK007BullDog

What do you mean by non standard construction?

As long as your income, your partners and your fathers income and outgoings fit then you might get a mortgage.

See a broker who has access to the whole of the market, as it will not be easy. The lenders have been very picky and if your property you want to buy is not of regular construction you are going to have a tough time.

Conrad

As you and partner are going into full time education Halifax will not help.

You might try Bank Of Ireland as they do a guarantor mortgage called first start.

The risks from a lenders point of view are very high. What if for example your father suddenly went mad and emmigrated who ran off with a young woman - you will say this wont happen but thats totaly irrelevant - it could happen and lenders cannot pre - guess without a crystal ball.

Lenders will worry about one day having to justify thier 'irresponsible' lending to a judge and you would likely allow yout lawyer to argue it was irresponsible lending.

Guaranotrs are not generally worth the paper they are written on as lenders find it hard to enforce in the event of default.

greyskymorning

To be honest I'm not really sure what it's made of. It's just what's written on the schedules I've been looking at online, so I've been looking to find out how to find out why they're of non-standard construction. lol

As you and partner are going into full time education Halifax will not help.

You might try Bank Of Ireland as they do a guarantor mortgage called first start.

The risks from a lenders point of view are very high. What if for example your father suddenly went mad and emmigrated who ran off with a young woman - you will say this wont happen but thats totaly irrelevant - it could happen and lenders cannot pre - guess without a crystal ball.

Lenders will worry about one day having to justify thier 'irresponsible' lending to a judge and you would likely allow yout lawyer to argue it was irresponsible lending.

Guaranotrs are not generally worth the paper they are written on as lenders find it hard to enforce in the event of default.

I find that quite odd that you'd say Halifax wouldn't help, since I already personally know a couple of people who've got their student mortgages from Halifax and it's broadly advertised on the internet as being one of the best places to go. On top of that, I have been in steady employment for the past couple of years which can only side with me rather than against me? (or am I being niave on that point?)

As for the risk, well as I said there shouldn't really be one as I am able to pay on my own and pay the deposit on my own. The point of having a guarantor in this instance is to have a back up if I default, which I won't do.

EDIT: Here's a couple links to the "non-standard construction" flats in Dundee. There's quite a lot of these dotted throughout the city, which is why I need to know!

http://www.tspc.co.uk/x88351-3-bedroom-Flat-for-sale-in-Dunbar-Park-Dundee--DD4-0LX
http://www.tspc.co.uk/x88693-3-bedroom-Flat-for-sale-in-Dundee---DD4-0LY
http://www.tspc.co.uk/x88411-1-bedroom-Flat-for-sale-in-Dunbar-Park---DD4-0LY

greyskymorning

Okay, done a bit of research and it seems those flats in particular are redeveloped "Skarne" blocks.

greyskymorning

Copied from my other thread on the properties forum!

Well, just a little update. My partner and I were approved for a mortgage of up to 100% LTV on a £70k property on Saturday, pending my dad gets the all clear credit-check wise! I asked if the non-standard construction properties were mortgageable too and was told that from what she knew they were, but I would be wise to speak to surveyors in the Dundee area and find out if they know if they have been mortgaged by Halifax before.

We went and saw a few properties on Friday, and more and more have been popping up every day that I wouldn't mind living in!

So basically, everything went smoothly. Thanks for your advice guys.

Just thought you'd want to know!