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AIBU?

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Original poster

Give up on buying a house?

54 replies

Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:04

Since July last year we've been trying to buy a house. At first we had a broker who it hunk was only interested in easy cases, the house got over complicated (for him) and he started to make mistakes. That was a lucky escape anyways.
So I found a local one, lovely lady. We found another house. Yes we're pushing how much we can afford but everything looked fine, until yesterday.

My husband was unlucky that he got 3 unpaid leave days (that happened during the year) all being taken from his salary in the same week. Plus another sick day a couple of weeks later. The lender averages the income for the past 8 weeks, so it looks like he's earning 10% less which means we can't afford this house.

The broker is saying she'll appeal but we'll most likely have to find another lender. I'm starting to think she should have foreseen this and now we're completely outpriced of this house. So back to the drawing board and £500 wasted on conveyancers. I'm started to get really down about all of this.

OP posts:
Curiosity101 · 11/02/2020 07:07

How much were they intending to lend you prior to the wage mix-up? I think for joint applications it's normally up to 5x your income?

Are you currently paying rent? What is that like compared to the mortgage?

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:09

They're lending £15k less. Our mortgage would be at least £200 less than rent. But I don't think that's ever taken into account

OP posts:
SquishyLint · 11/02/2020 07:10

It’s not taken into account, which is bloody ridiculous!

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:18

I think the reasoning is that with rent they just kick you out, on mortgage is takes more time. I'm just so down about the whole thing

OP posts:
Curiosity101 · 11/02/2020 07:24

It does seem ridiculous that they never take rent into account at all, but at the same time moving when you're renting is a lot easier than moving when you have a mortgage so they're not equivalents. I was just trying to work out how close you are to the lending maximum.

If you've been paying rent a long time then I wouldn't be too worried but if you're taking 5x salary on a 95% mortgage and 4 out of 40 days work for one of you drops you below the lending criteria then maybe they're actually doing the responsible thing by saying no...

However... Cant you just wait another 4-8 weeks? The conveyancer fee doesn't have to be wasted if you stick to the same house?

Also I'm not sure how the broker is at fault and could have foreseen it?

Curiosity101 · 11/02/2020 07:26

What type / size of house are you going for?

MrOnionsBumperRoller · 11/02/2020 07:31

It's during shitty occurances like this that you have to have strength and fortitude and be a grown up and just keep ploughing on. You'll get your home and in the grand scheme of house buying is £500 is nothing. Flowers Life likes throwing in a shitball or two just for fun.

Racoonworld · 11/02/2020 07:33

If your DH is taking unpaid leave days then your income is less than you said it was, the bank is just following their lender criteria. Wait another 8 weeks and don’t take any unpaid leave or sick days.

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:33

The broker should have known that Nationwide averages the last 8 weeks of payslips.

We need 4.5x our income including his bonus and CB. We have a 10% deposit.

Because of my daughter and school is that we can't move too far, otherwise school runs become an utter and complete nightmare, so location wise are hands are a bit tied.

My 12 weeks of contractual maternity pay have ended too, so I'm on the basic £600pm I'm going back though, but unsure if it will have any impact.

OP posts:
Curiosity101 · 11/02/2020 07:35

Can you go for a smaller / cheaper house in the catchment area instead? It would mean less risk of this happening again?

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:38

He usually has the option to pay the hours back, but this time they just decided to take them from.his payslip, instead of working those days back.

Same for that random day off (which he never takes) it was just unlucky. As it really ended up being 4 unpaid days for the while year, but as they take an 8 weeks snapshot it looks like he takes 10% of unpaid leave.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:39

They are virtually non existent. We'rer already moving a bit away to be able to afford a house

OP posts:
Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 07:47

And it's these conveyancers plus the previous ones so around £1k total. But hopefully the broker can help find a different lender.

OP posts:
Singlebutmarried · 11/02/2020 07:54

It’s not the brokers fault your DH has unpaid leave.

They can appeal and lenders can be understanding. Did you tell the broker there was unpaid leave or was it just discovered when the case was submitted?

Some lenders won’t take into account CB and only use a %age of bonus.

NW have good rates at the moment. The broker wouldn’t have suggested NW if there were other alternatives that were of a similar cost.

You’ve already admitted you’re a complicated case, are on your second broker and looking to go to a third.

You’ve seemingly had 2 applications submitted which will show on a credit search. Unless infact you haven’t and are going on soft search DIPs.

You need to sit and think if you can really afford this. Or wait til you go back to work and have two salaries coming in again.

TheTeenageYears · 11/02/2020 08:03

Can’t the broker show payslips over a much longer period to demonstrate that the last 8 week criteria of their lending norm is not the earning norm? That’s the kind of way a broker is useful otherwise you might just as well go directly to a lender and cut out the middle man. Remember that the broker is being paid and needs to earn that money.

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 08:04

I'm ot saying it's her fault (obviously it isn't) but it's part of her job to know if the lender would have an issue with those 4 days of unpaid leave. Which she noticed, but made no note of them (or didn't think much).

We are not a complicated case (the house was as the previous broker had no idea what a single Skin wall was, and he knew I was pregnant, but would never give us updates of where he was on the application, in itself the broker wasn't great).

We were hard searched a couple of times with our previous broker, but that was in October and November, so far we haven't been hard searched.

We definitely can afford the house, that has never been in question. Unfortunately banks don't take into account that income so that's that.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 08:07

She had 16 weeks of payslips but Nationwide would only average the last 8.

OP posts:
Singlebutmarried · 11/02/2020 08:17

Had the application actually been submitted?

You can’t get an offer without a valuation anyway and I’m guessing you opted for the additional home buyers report.

The valuation could also have come back higher which would impact on the LTV.

It can be appealed but there’s no sure way of saying it will be accepted. NW team are pretty good so I wouldn’t give up all hope.

If they turn you down you may need to go with a less well known lender and pay a higher interest rate.

BammBamm · 11/02/2020 08:21

I had sick leave on my direct application with Santander (paid) and they couldn't proceed the application. They asked me to send in additional payslips once the sick leave was no longer on there. Is this an option, to put the application on hold?

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 08:22

Valuation had been done. We were waiting for a mundic report, but NW seems to the underwriting after valuation had been done.

OP posts:
NikeDeLaSwoosh · 11/02/2020 08:29

If you are so close to the limit of the lender's affordability criteria, then you need to ask yourself if you can really afford this mortgage?

At today's rates the mortgage repayment is £200 less than your rent, but interest rates are liable to change and nobody can pdict the future.

If 3 days of unpaid leave, averaged over 8 week's worth of pay is enough to make the difference between affordable and not, then it is unaffordable.

Imagine the impact of, (god forbid) your DH becoming disabled in an accident and being unable to work, or you having a disabled child requiring 24/7 care for life.

You need to factor all of these things in, which I agree is difficult to do when caught up in the emotive process of buying a house. This is why the lender takes such a conservative view.

YABU. You need to find a cheaper house.

Original poster
Mariagatzs12 · 11/02/2020 08:32

I'm not worried at all about affording the house or not. Ive always received without daily for the past 10 years years £1k a month as part of the family business dividends. Plus I also have a flat overseas that pays a rent (that one stays there as I used as pocket money when I visit). That flat is worth about £200-250k if something like what you've said we're to happen, we'd sell it and pay the house.

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 11/02/2020 08:35

I really don't think it's the brokers fault the employer took the unpaid leave days out. His earnings are what they are presented as.

5zeds · 11/02/2020 08:38

If you stick it out and keep trying you will own a house in time, or you can give up. Every person you think is “lucky” enough to own their own home has had to go through this. Some have more cash or want less but basically those that put in the time are the only ones with a chance. We bought our first house in the 90s and had no cooker/fridge/washing machine for months and lived on air because it was such a heave.

NikeDeLaSwoosh · 11/02/2020 08:38

Well that's quite the drip feed!

So what's the issue then, why don't you just sell up now and use the proceeds of that sale to fund this one? Remortgage it to release some of the equity maybe?

I'm really surprised that neither of your mortgage advisors have explained to you the golden rule of mortgages, which is to secure as little of your borrowing as possible against the roof over your heads.

It's madness to take out a 'bust the budget' mortgage when you have an unencumbered property.

Have a look at the 'total amount repayable' section of your Key Facts Illustration' and see how much interest you will be paying on the new mortgage over its lifespan. That's all money you're flushing down the drain!

You need a new (better) advisor.