AIBU to consider being a mortgage guarantor?

[Idontneedrescuing]

My sister is breaking up with her partner and wants to remortgage only in her name - she can afford the current bills and mortgages repayments but he concerned there are potentially some affordability issues on paper in the current economic climate so I am wondering how I might help if needed. AIBU to consider this - if I was a guarantor, I don’t how / whether this might affect mine and my partners mortgage situation when I need to remortgage or move house? (I own properties already with my husband so going on a joint mortgage wouldn’t work as it would have tax implications for the purchase)

Also does anyone know which banks offer guarantor mortgages, if any? She’s obv not a first time buyer

Thanks, hoping for some traffic here!

Only if you can afford to pay and are willing to pay the full amount of the mortgage yourself if needs be.

Barclays
HSBC
Metro

they do them

As the saying goes "No good deed goes unpunished"
As guarantor you are potentially liable for the entire debt if things went pear shaped and whilst you may not think so, even if nothing went wrong it will completely change your relationship with your sister.

Only proceed if you are comfortable with all that.

I wouldn't do it.

Although many years ago I worked in a bank in mortgage lending and in the years I worked there we never once called on a guarantor to actually pay back on a defaulted loan. Anyone who was wealthy enough to be considered as a guarantor was someone whose other business was so lucrative to the bank that they never wanted to piss them off. So we had many instances of spoilt brats of 20 year olds being given mortgages which they then merrily defaulted on knowing that daddy would ultimately be responsible for it.

Wouldn't happen these days I'd imagine, and nor should it...

I know it's your sister and she's reliable but no one knows what the future hold. I would never go guarantor on someone else's mortgage. I wouldn't even do it for my kids.

Don't do it.

No, don't go there unless you have a large amount of money lying around and you don't mind losing it.

Christ on a bike. No no NO. You would be putting yourself and your family in enormous risk. What if you or your husband lose your jobs, find yourself in serious financial trouble and then your sister stops paying the mortgage? You would be completely fucked and would lose EVERYTHING. I have witnessed what happens to people who become guarantors and then everything turns to shit.

Do NOT do this.

If you want help your sister, why not lend her a lump sum so she has a bigger deposit?

No matter how positive or trustworthy you think that your relationship with the debtor is OP, it remains a fact that the people who have most need of a guarantor-backed loan are simultaneously the same people who have the least financial breathing room and are thus the most likely to default with even a modest change in circumstances. Frankly, I think you're being naive here. I would investigate very closely not only the risk of having a charge against your own property in the case of a default, but the potential impact on your own credit file; simultaneously having your access to credit trashed would make sweeping up the whole mess much more complicated.

It’s a risk but it’s a kind thing to do for your sister. If it’s a limited amount and you think you can afford it, and are prepared to accept the risk for your sister, I would go ahead. Consider an agreement for her to sell if the guarantee is called in.

Thanks for all the responses x

My FIL asked us (pressured us hugely) to go guarantor on a mortgage for him.

DH was buckling, and there was no way I was going to. As far as I'm concerned, if the bank thinks they need a guarantor, they're saying they're not a good risk. I wasn't prepared to take a risk a bank wasn't prepared to take!

Please be aware that it may also negatively impact your relationship with your DH if it goes pearshaped, and your DH's relationship with your sister.

In our case, FIL got BIL to go guarantor. And yes, he defaulted. It broke BIL. And the family.