To feel a bit sad I can't get a mortgage

[yummysummerpudding]

I know it's a first world problem and I know many people rent indefinitely happily, but I'd love a mortgage and real home security. My own situation could be a thousand times worse but I am angry with myself really.

[PurpleDaisies]

Have you got bad debts or county court judgements? Is it the deposit that's the issue?

Just because you can't get a mortgage now doesn't mean it has to be like that forever. It must be hard for uph now though.

[CraftyPenguin]

YANBU. I hate that I rent and that I can't give my dd a stable home :(

[yummysummerpudding]

All of the above really purple - history of bad credit and no deposit at the moment.

[PurpleDaisies]

Have you thought about talking to someone about how to improve things for the future?

[yummysummerpudding]

I'm not sure who I'd speak to :)

[Loulou2kent]

Feel the same here OP. Can afford it, just everytime we get close to a deposit, prices increase & we need to add to the deposit. Would love to know that I won't have to move on the LL's say so. Would also love to properly decorate & change things etc. One day OP. Just keep saving!! Xx

[Cambam2010]

I'm the same - I have a deposit and I currently pay more in rent than I would on a mortgage but I can not get a mortgage because I do not earn enough and tax credits and maintenance aren't always taken in to account as income depending on the lender.

[2nds]

We are in the same boat, I've rented for years but this latest house we are in doesn't feel like home and it's time to think about buying, but we haven't got the money.

[StarUtopia]

i can't get one either :( Even worse though, I had one - 20 years ago until 2 years ago. Would have been practically paid off by now.

Now, myself and new DH don't earn enough to borrow enough to buy even a 1 bed flat. Ridiculous. We've got a deposit.

Seriously though. We need to borrow at least £200k. No one is going to lend that to 2 people who have a household income of £28k.

[outatime]

Hi OP have you had a chat with a mortgage adviser? I regularly talk to people who are starting to save and won't be in a position to buy for a number of years. Sometimes home ownership isn't as far away as you would think.
There are lenders who will consider poor credit, but again its worth talking your situation through as lenders may not consider your credit as problematic as you do.
Deposits are hard, they take discipline and it can be really disheartening if you don't think you are making any headway so try and find an achievable saving and reward system.
You are welcome to PM me if you want to have a generic chat about what lenders are currently looking for but otherwise try to stay focused and positive.

Good luck!

[Brankolium]

Ditto.

One day hopefully, but I have no idea when.

I console myself with knowing that if the roof leaks, or the washing machine breaks, or brickwork needs re-pointing then I don't have to foot the bill. But I also have amazing landlords who make the renting experience pretty ok.

[Charlesroi]

Bad credit history eventually disappears. Keep saving and you'll get there.

We can never be sure what the economy is going to do(and lending rules can change), so just keep trying to put yourselves in the best possible place.

[penisbeakerlaminateflooringetc]

I'm there too....3 more years until the default falls off my credit file.

On the bright side - it gives me three years to save for the deposit 😊

[Horehound]

:( It is a horrible feeling but it won't always be like this.

I had multiple defaults on my credit report, I had to wait 6 years for each one to drop off (from the date of the last one, prob 10 years in total) and up until then I had 0 money and no chance of getting credit for anything which isn't helpful when you need a car etc.
I also had no means to save. Over the years I have worked my way up into a higher paying role (not that high just not bad) and met someone on a slightly higher wage. we pull our money together, we both set up the help to buy isas (one each) where we put £200 in a month and the government will add on 25% on anything over £1600. We are slowly getting there, by this time next year we hope to be able to buy.
Are you able to do that?

One day you will be able to do it and I know it's a horrible feeling and yes, it will take a long time. Just try to save every £ you can. Any luxuries try and cut out. I stopped sky, switched energy providers, meal plan everything and hardly have take outs or go out as much as we used to. If you can try to build up a deposit whilst waiting for your bad things to fall off your report you will get there sooner. Although, I don't know all the ins and outs of CCJ's etc.

[Horehound]

penisbeaker A financial advisor told me that lenders don't really look at defaults after they are 4 years old. I guess if your credit file is really bad then it still may affect it though.

Also, if you are a first time buyer maybe look into the Help to buy isa as in 3 years time you will surely have enough to get even something from the government :)

[teaandcake789]

Ah I feel your pain. Was hoping to buy this year but o doubt we'll get a mortgage either. Dh thinks it will be my old bad credit that's the issue (went bankrupt 10+ years ago but spotless credit since) whereas I think it will be his 0 hour contract that will be the problem. It sucks x

[DavidDecorator]

I'll weigh in here though perhaps I shouldn't. I'm 41 and work whenever I can at the age of 20 when I thought I was on a good wage I wanted to buy a house and was told I'd have no chance at 34 when I was (still am) running my own business I was told it was due to the fact that I am self employed. of course this wasn't a problem for my father who was self employed in 1971 when my parents bought their house.
At 37 I again went for a mortgage to buy a fixer upper and even though I can do the work myself was again turned down due to a combination of both of the above and "something on the credit rating".
I remarked that it was ridiculous that they were refusing me a mortgage for less than the rent I'd been paying for years each month with no problems but the financial institutions are just not interested in hearing that common sense.
I have to say that this blanket reliance on these so called credit reference agencies that are totally autonomous and unaccountable for the misery they cause in unilaterally deciding without giving any thought to a persons circumstances, whether you can purchase a phone let alone a home dictatorial in the extreme.
There must be very few people who haven't at one time or another experienced a period of difficulty and for some faceless organisation to use that against you to prevent you from providing a stable home for your family or preventing you from passing down a legacy to your children is not only Kafkaesque but almost Stalinist in it's brutality.
These agencies are perpetuating an inter-generational issue of unstable accommodation or tenure for families causing billions to be wasted on ever increasing barely affordable rents for people wanting the best for their families many of whom like myself have demonstrated that we are perfectly capable of paying a mortgage because we've paid rent in the same or greater sums for years without missing payments for our homes.
Couple this with the glaring errors that can appear on the information that these entities hold and the fact that they do not eve hold the same information as each other and the problem is clear.
Such things imo have no place in an entrepenurial and aspirational society and should be disbanded, abolished or at the very least administered centrally by a democratically elected body.
I could go on for pages but I think I've given the gist of my argument quite well so I fully sympathise with the OP.

[mrgrouper]

Have you ever thought about social housing? I have just moved into a lovely HA home and hope to buy that with the Right to Acquire scheme at a discount.

[VioletBam]

OP have you considered a barge?

[amusedbush]

Same here. I've just started a debt repayment plan with Step Change and will be debt free in 4 years, but I've been told I'll have a default on my credit file for 6 years. We have some money set aside from PIL to start off our deposit and we will continue to save over the next few years but I'm sad that we can't even consider a mortgage until we're at least 32, when we have decent jobs now but made several bad decisions in our early 20's

[penisbeakerlaminateflooringetc]

Thanks Horehound, I didn't realise I'd even get considered until it's completely gone....still need the deposit though

[WibblyWobblyJellyHead]

How old are you? At 26 I was a broke single parent in a rented flat, with CCJs and bad credit.

Ten years later I have a mortgage on a four bedroom detached house in the countryside.

Things change. Never say never.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

A core part of your argument doesn't make sense though. It's not the credit ratings agencies who decide if you can or cannot borrow. They hold information about your credit history but each company makes its own decisions about what they do or don't accept. The agencies aren't perpetuating any inter generational issues.

[yummysummerpudding]

Everyone I am at work but actually touched and overwhelmed - I'll reply properly later and send some PMs xx

[MrsDoylesTeaParty]

I never thought we would get one but we did, it's only a 1 bed flat up north so cost £53,000.. But it's ours. We got it based on one call centre wage (15k) with £5300 deposit. Don't give up!