Any self emps recently applied for a new mortgage

[WhereverIlaymyhat2021]

Had a meeting with our mortgage advisor this morning and it was all a bit gloomy.

We met with him in Nov just after we’d put the house on, all very positive. Understand things have moved on but there’s been little in the press about the housing market being negatively effected - quite the opposite.

Our sale’s progressing, and now that we know that, and an actual sale price we thought we’d get back in touch so we can get a detailed figure on what we can borrow.

I work PT and DH runs his own business, it’s been relatively in unaffected by the pandemic but has been quieter - but that’s been brewing over the last 15 months, annoyingly nothing to do with COVID . Normally we are in the position where we are working every hour god sends as you never like to turn down work so it being quiter has not made the greatest dent.

Even so the advisor was very gloomy in contrast to Nov, said they’re looking at everything a lot more forensically and will be looking at the bank account not just the books to make sure what’s been coming in over a 3 month period matches the average of the past 2 years books. Sensible, however 3 months wouldn’t really give a proper picture as DH does contracts that can last 6 months and you obviously don’t invoice until the end.

We came off the call very flat even though (please god let it continue) things haven’t changed loads for us.

I’ve not been furloughed at all and won’t be.

Any other self emps very recently applied or in the middle of applying what’s been your experience?

We’re both self-employed and have taken all 3 Covid grants so far. Also have a LTD company so not totally straightforward.

Most banks are limiting what they’ll lend to self-employed people- usually maximum 60% LTV. I’m obviously not sure if that applies to you if one of you is employed, but wouldn’t be surprised!

We’re putting in over a 50% deposit and Santander told our broker not to even bother applying because they’d decline, even though we had a mortgage in principle with them. Finally got one with Halifax, but they’re not even lending us 4.5 times. We had to show 2 or 3 years SA302s and 3 months of bank statements.

Beverley Building Society are also self-employed friendly but I think only lend 4 x

It’s been hell. So stressful! A mortgage in principle means literally nothing, and if your husband had taken any grants then make sure your broker has that conversation with the lender first etc.

Good luck!

Sorry, I meant we had to give 3 months personal and business accounts. I think they actually allowed us to do 4 as we have a similar situation where all our money comes in irregular blocks so it’s worth asking if they’ll let you do that!

We are in the middle of applying. Dh is self employed. We need a 70%ltv. Our mortgage brokers not been gloomy at all. I however am worried as I have read they are declining really easily and our statements for December and January were messy as we had xmas and two kids bdays then February no one paid as the jobs weren't complete.

@Thinkling sounds like it’s all all over the place our broker told us 4.49 x combined income. But said it had pretty much always been this for self emp. This is our third property so weren’t going to bother with an in principle just wanted a rough figure.

We haven’t been eligible for any of the grants anyway 🙄 but mercifully we’ve not needed them.....I’m so sorry you have 😓😞

Urghhh @Scbchl we’re the same for this last quarter with the bank statements, just trying to bill halfway through a project and pay ourselves more for next few months, we haven’t even seen anywhere yet, I don’t know whether we’re better going into rented until they stop being so sensitive.

To clarify, do you work part time for your husband's business?

My experience is from ex-colleagues as I used to be a mortgage underwriter. They're not lending to anyone that has received support from Seiss.

@ArosGartref no separate job. No furlough we’ve carried on unaffected by COVID as public sector

DH’s company has not had any COVID support, we wouldn’t have been eligible anyway 🙄

If anyone has taken any of the SEISS grants expect to have a rough time. The govt said credit ratings would not be affected but they lied.

@AnyFucker I would like to stipulate for the third time we would not have been eligible for any support.....which thankfully up to press we haven’t needed. I quite understand the reticence on the part of the banks in terms of those that have but we’ve carried on pretty much as normal which is why I feel a bit flat.

We tried to get new deal back in October. Not moving just current mortgage was about to end. It’s now March and we are still finalising paperwork! It’s taken absolutely ages and they’ve asked for far more information than I expected given that we’re not moving and just basically want to continue as we were! I’m self employed and they’ve asked for the usual 3 months plus any information on help I’ve received (I applied for the first one as had Covid and was unable to work for a couple of weeks. Since my income has been as usual).

Man alive @Dailywalk 😓.

Hope you’re ok now btw? And people wonder why we have been so cautious, well 85% of our household income comes from DH’s business and we wouldn’t be eligible for diddly support, so damn right he hasn’t wanted to get something which could lay him up for weeks/months!! Sorry slight off topic rant there!

Our broker was basically unaware that we’d have an issue. The problem is that the rules are different for all lenders, and are changing without notice all the time. As I said, we had a mortgage in principle but it meant nothing.

Santander’s website says they’ll lend up to 60% LTV. Initial conversations asked about any grants etc, which we were obviously upfront about. They then asked for projections from our accountant (which we obviously had to pay for), but then 5 weeks down the line our broker actually spoke to an underwriter who said not to bother putting the application in.

Also, the amount they will lend varies and some banks seem to be making it up as they go along when it comes to businesses being affected by Covid- might be hard to convince them any drop in recent turnover/profit isn’t Covid related!

@WhereverIlaymyhat2021

Man alive *@Dailywalk* 😓.

Hope you’re ok now btw? And people wonder why we have been so cautious, well 85% of our household income comes from DH’s business and we wouldn’t be eligible for diddly support, so damn right he hasn’t wanted to get something which could lay him up for weeks/months!! Sorry slight off topic rant there!

Fine thanks. I didn’t get Covid too badly and if I hadn’t been tested would have thought I just had a bit of a bad back and no sense of smell. However did mean I had to isolate and kids have been home too so difficult to work as usual (precovid). My advice to anyone in similar position would be not to leave it to the last minute and keep your paperwork up to date!

Be aware also that every application triggers a “hard search” on your credit record which triggers a reduction in credit score

We haven’t taken out a mortgage recently, it was 18 months ago. But we are looking at remortgaging and I know they are being more cautious now with lending.
We used a specialist self employed/ contractor mortgage broker.
I used to work in the mortgage industry and sometimes brokers can speak to an underwriter and get loans agreed even if it doesn’t strictly fit. Also have you considered staying with your existing lender.

We just remortgaged (same bank which may have made a difference) but they didn't do any searches or ask any questions. Just gave us a new (cheaper) deal.

We do need to borrow more money in a year or so to do work to the house, and I think that's when we will get a hard time as DH did claim the first 2 seiss grants.

Fun times ahead if they lied about this not affecting credit.

@MidSummersNightmare yes ours is a specialist in self emp mortgages and financial management. Ha, well we’ve been with nationwide since we had our 2 bed cottage in our 20’s no one’s ever been able to offer a better deal 2, further house moves and a remortgage and we’re still with them, so we will ask they sound them out first. Likewise Lloyds who apparently who do quote a lot of self emp deals. All our business banking is through them.

How you getting on op? We have been declined today due to my husbands last three months statements not evidincing same income as last years accounts.

I'm gutted, we only needed 1.8 times our salary, 70 percent ltv and it was a small amount only 79k. He has been so busy this month and things are going well as he's adapted his business as hasnt been allowed in domestic customers houses since December 26th so in the last month has started working on sites.

Hope you are having better luck.