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AIBU?

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Original poster

Not to tell mortgage broker I am pregnant?

94 replies

Seabiscuit1 · 12/03/2018 15:08

I asked about this a couple of weeks ago for renting but due to my family being incredible I am now in the position to buy rather than rent! It would just be me on the mortgage as my partner has a mortgage on another property that his ex still lives in with his DD. Not my place to interfere with that one as long as he still contributes fairly to our family.
So my credit rating is reasonably good and affordability shouldn’t be a problem but I am 28 weeks pregnant! Would it be incredibly wrong of me to hide that from them? I won’t be giving up work and even SMA will more than cover the mortgage repayments. The mortgage would be so much more affordable than renting so I am desperate to do this if I get a chance.
Someone tell me what to do!

OP posts:
soulrider · 12/03/2018 16:02

The wording for ours was something like "do you know of anything that will result in a change of financial circumstances over the next 5 years?" This was Natwest/RBS

muffyduffster · 12/03/2018 16:03

I told them even though I was only a few weeks' pregnant and hadn't had a scan yet. Assume it'd be mortgage fraud if I didn't, and a close family member used to investigate mortgage fraud so wasn't an option to not disclose it.

MyDcAreMarvel · 12/03/2018 16:04

If you partner lives with you then that may well be an issue as he will be a dependant.

miniaga · 12/03/2018 16:05

I didn’t, it was fine.

WineAndTiramisu · 12/03/2018 16:06

I wouldn't mention it, do the video call instead!

CurlsandCurves · 12/03/2018 16:06

I didn’t say anything, and I don’t recall being asked.

MIngerDynasty · 12/03/2018 16:07

If your husband was the sole applicant would anyone think you need to tell them? Men become stay at home fathers. No one is asking him.

He's still having a baby. The mortgage is still going to get paid. Sex descrimination isn't legal anymore.

JoJoSM2 · 12/03/2018 16:08

I think it's mortgage fraud if you don't disclose your upcoming change in circumstances. I doubt they specifically ask how far along you are or probably not even if you're pregnant but they do ask if there might be a change in your circumstances. Which it obviously would be.#

Having said that, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably go ahead and lie saying that I wouldn't have a change in circumstances. I suggest that you apply as soon as possible and buy chain free if you can though. You don't want a situation where the bank has another look at your income/payslips and by then you're on SMP. You might also have a word with your employer as they might be asked to fill a form.

Jenasaurus · 12/03/2018 16:13

Wow, that's a low mortgage, £300 a month is for a mortgage of £58k so with a 20% deposit the property is about £70k, I wish I could find a property in my town for that :)

Argeles · 12/03/2018 16:18

Definitely don’t tell them!

I arranged my mortgage with my Husband while I had been written off sick from work by my Doctor. I looked dreadful, but plastered myself in make up and didn’t say a word about it.

They just see everything as a ‘risk’ so don’t give them any ammunition!

JobHunting4 · 12/03/2018 16:18

Ooh, I forgot to add. What I did have to do for the one whilst on maternity leave was write to them confirming I would be returning to work at x number of hours, on x date, and childcare for the extra child would be approximately x.
The mortgage broker was very clear that it is discrimination to treat you differently due to being pregnant. What they can do is make you jump through hoops to show you can afford the mortgage whilst off.

JobHunting4 · 12/03/2018 16:20

And dependants are under 18 yrs. your partner won’t be a dependant. I argued that my step child also wasn’t my dependant and they agreed... surprisingly

wildduckhunt · 12/03/2018 16:23

It won't be a pregnancy that will bother them so much as mobile phone contracts/having Sky/a car on finance.

Getoffthetableplease · 12/03/2018 16:25

They want to ensure you can afford your home. They are working for you, you know. I think it's a ridiculous and irresponsible idea to lie about it.

Babybrainx2 · 12/03/2018 16:39

We bought our house 22 months ago, a week before DD was born. I asked our mortgage broker about declaring the pregnancy and he said that a foetus is not a legal person so it's irrelevant, and as morbid as it sounds, pregnancy does not guarantee a living dependent. You could decide to go back to work full time after 2 weeks and parents provide free childcare, so even a future child doesn't necessarily mean a drop in income.

But we never had to go to a bank or see anyone in person. We sent copies of passport, driving licences and banks statements to our mortgage broker and that was it.

Pemba · 12/03/2018 16:44

Really, Getoffthetable, when the mortgage payments will be so much less than the OP's rent, which is currently paying?

Getoffthetableplease · 12/03/2018 16:55

So all the more reason not to lie about it? I don't get why you would lie.

Original poster
Seabiscuit1 · 12/03/2018 16:59

I do understand where you are coming from getoffthetable. If I had any doubts at all about being about to pay the mortgage I would not be applying. But unless I am going to live on the streets with a new born, I am not going to get a cheaper rent than what my monthly repayments on this mortgage would be!

OP posts:
Funnyface1 · 12/03/2018 17:04

Mine asked me if I were planning on having any more children so no, I wouldn't tell them.

Getoffthetableplease · 12/03/2018 17:04

Ok, but you can still get a mortgage whilst pregnant, and you have a duty of full disclosure so how about not rcommiting fraud/risking your intermediary being struck off and complete the application honestly.

Pikehau · 12/03/2018 17:05

I have been on maternity leave twice when getting a mortgage. They ask for payslips before I went on mat leave (so clearly pregnant) and a letter from hr stating when mat leave ends and i am allowed to go back to same terms (or days, salary etc) even your employer can’t ask when you plan to return or if U want to drop days etc.

I don’t think it should matter as theoretically you could be back before your “paid” mat leave ends. No one can assume or ask or discriminate.

Original poster
Seabiscuit1 · 12/03/2018 17:10

I definitely will tell them if they ask. I am not going to lie about it. I was just asking whether I needed to disclose it to them if I was asked.
So far I haven’t and affordability checks have been passed. Now just waiting to hear back about provisional offers. Eeek!

OP posts:
backinthebox · 12/03/2018 17:11

My mortgage provider tried to leave me off our joint mortgage when I was on maternity leave. I am a salaried employee on a very good salary in a very secure job with enormous golden handcuffs, so I am unlikely to change job or leave it ever. Their reasoning was that women sometimes decide not to go back to work after having a baby. I asked them if they would like to consider how that statement complied with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, so they got the manager to call me. He then compounded the issue by saying that he would allow me a mortgage 'this time' but would not be able to process the application further until my husband wrote into them stating that he was happy for me to apply under my maiden name. I asked him if he fully understood the Equality Act 2010 and said that if I was discriminated against for being female one more time in the same phone call I would be calling my friend, the Daily Mail Femail reporter (I know, but she is lovely!) Funnily enough, the application went through just fine once they established that I was a woman with my own income who didn't need my man to validate me. The idiots Hmm.

Grainfail · 12/03/2018 17:22

We met there bank for our mortgage based on having one child when I was 8.5 months pregnant with #2. Didn't say a word about it - he did glance at my belly when we confirmed number of dependents as 1.

As it turned out, we ended up signing on the dotted line with a 2 week old baby. It didn't make a difference to what we got as I was on maternity leave with my salary topped up.

Starlive22 · 12/03/2018 17:24

I don't think I would OP just in case it causes a load of extra hassle!