Refused remortgage - what to do

[notbeenagreatday]

I've posted in legal too but thought might be some more advice over here

So under the terms of my divorce I'm due to pay ex husband a sum of money next year. I am in the family home as have young children and always earnt 3x ex so can cover the mortgage easily.

Was mulling over moving house so rang to discuss with my current mortgage provider today - who after doing a soft check flat out refused to offer additional borrowing on my current mortgage to pay him so I can't move and I can't do additional borrowing!

I'm shocked. They said they based it on my Experian Report - but I've duly registered and my credit score is 1000/1000 - literally cannot improve on it.

What am I supposed to do? They said it could be due to ex husbands credit rating (they are so wishy washy with what they are allowed to say) but I have no control over whatever debt he might have had if he used this house before he moved out as the registered address other than asking him to change the address details? I can't ask him to run his own credit report - we don't have that kind of relationship?

My salary is circa £85k per year and my current mortgage is £170k and I need £60k so well under borrowing multipliers

I re fixed at the end of the last fixed deal so that has 4 years to run without incurring early redemption so can't change lenders.

You won’t be able to enter into a new mortgage contract without him has he is on the current one. It really is that simple. Likely that would go for a second charge as well, he’s listed on the first charge. So additional borrowing needs his consent too, he may give it? Is he continuing paying towards the mortgage?

removing someone from a mortgage can only be done with a transfer of equity. This is a material change in the mortgage contract, the lender may reassess affordability. I’m not sure what that would mean in your specific case

Reread and that’s not 100% clear what I mean,

you can obviously sell and move and thus break your current contract (paying ercs) but your current one, you won’t be able to take more borrowing or even PT with your existing lender as things stand because he’s on the mortgage contract.

you maybe have no other choice than to sell and pay him from your share of the equity. Or looks at unsecured lending.

That sounds like a relatively small mortgage, especially given your strong salary. I know it’s a sensitive topic, but I’ve seen quite a few single mums struggle with strict affordability checks after divorce—often feeling skewed against those with dependents. It makes me wonder if single dads face the same scrutiny. I know this might be controversial, but a couple of mums I know ultimately used buy-to-let mortgages to secure a home and chose to live in it, with their brokers taking a "don’t ask, don’t tell" approach. Honestly, it feels like a feminist issue—the system can be so skewed that you’ve got to work around it to get what you need.

@GoldPlayer I do some underwriting, albeit not mortgage and we do not discriminate against women, that would be illegal. I can only imagine other lenders having to follow the same conduct.

A single father with dependents on the same wage as a single mother with dependents and let's say their outgoings were exactly the same and no adverse credit history showing of their profiles, their outcome decision would be the same.

If we gave a different decision, in that scenario, our company would likely lose their licence to lend or receive a hefty fine.

@Wheelz46

I would imagine the issue is that childcare tends to be paid from the mum's bank account - even post divorce - so when doing checks it's the mums affordability which is questioned not the dads

You won’t be able to enter into a new mortgage contract without him has he is on the current one.

But what I'm trying to do is buy him out / remove him from the mortgage either on current property or if I buy a new house

But I think I've gone about it the wrong way - rather than talking to the NatWest mortgage porting team to get a Decision in Principle I should have spoken to them about removing him from the current mortgage first and going through affordability checks and doing additional borrowing in my name as part of that?

You need to do a transfer of equity this is done through a solicitor

What? That’s outrageous- why on earth would they take a BTL mortgage instead. That broker needs to be reported to the regulator. BTL mortgages are unregulated and you still must prove and income cover ratio where the rent is x amount of the mortgage. In fact thinking of it, there’s no way that this is true.

but on the off chance it is, please don’t take a btl mortgage is you’re a residential customer. If the bank finds out, it’s fraud

@Ohforgodssake123

But to do the transfer of equity I need to pay him £x and I need the additional borrowing to do that?

You cannot do additional borrowing if he does not consent to it and sign it as things stand right now. He may well do in order to get the money.

rather than calling the mortgage servicing centre who are just contact centre agents, I’d contact a solicitor

Ah ok. Yes he would consent to the additional borrowing - it's in his interest to do so.

(His credit score will obviously be an issue though)

BUT then presumably once I've got the additional borrowing I then get the solicitor to do the equity transfer and remove him from the mortgage

You need to speak to a solicitor really.

BUT you have to be mindful of ‘affordability’ because now then you’re a sole borrower with dependents and a larger mortgage. Is he paying expenses for the children and childcare? The bank will likely reassess your affordability at the point of additional borrowing and when he’s removed from the mortgage. So you probably want to have some time in between those events.

have you don’t an agreement in principle online to see your sole borrowing power?

Do you both own the house 50:50 at present, as far as the land registry is concerned?

I do not know the ins and out like the PP but it certainly seems like you are trying to do too many things at once.

A mortgage company would presumably always prefer a joint mortgage as that’s two lots of earning potential, other savings etc to make their payments.

It used to be fairly usual to do a TOE and additional borrowing applications at the same time for this very common situation where one party is borrowing more to buy out the other. I came across it a lot when I worked in mortgages but this was some time ago.They process the TOE first and then the additional borrowing in the sole name shortly afterwards, as a lot of the legal work can happen simultaneously and the same solicitor can do both for you. It does sound like they've scored both of you here and it's your ex's credit that's causing the issue which probably should happen. Maybe look up the TOE process on your lender's website and start from there.

@Ohforgodssake123

Yes - my affordability in my sole name on my salary even putting in current childcare costs etc which are due to decrease I could borrow up to £335k! I even had an agreement in principle for another lender at that level

And the London and Country calculations I did on their website last night all said the same I could borrow well over £300k

What I'm asking from NatWest - taking moving house out of the equation - just to borrow the money to pay ex off - is circa £100k less!

@SheilaFentiman

I actually own 75% under a Tenancy in Common

I've always found the approach of mortgage companies pretty archaic - and misogynistic - even the way they always put the man's name first in correspondence or as the lead mortgagee - I earn a LOT more than my ex always have done. If he lost his job when we were married I could pay the mortgage comfortably. If I lost MY job he wouldn't. Him being on or off the mortgage should have no impact really

@freddyfluffball

Thanks for the info - I guess I naively assumed that ex wouldn't sign the transfer of equity until the funds to pay him were with the solicitor to transfer to him?

So I need the funds first?

Well that’s reassuring for you.

your lender may well let both happen at the same time, like a PP said. I don’t know. But it’s the TOE that’s the issue here.

Would you mind if I ask what field you work in? Sorry to distract from the topic, but I have been stuck in low paid academic fields and I'm always astonished by these £80k salaries discussed on MN, I want to find out what these jobs are!
I hope you get your situation resolved, it sounds as though you need to spread your net wider through an advisor and port your existing mortgage, it used to be easy to do when mortgages were competitive.

@LeafyGreenSalad

I work in Construction 😃

Oh thank you for answering, didn't mean to be nosey, just researching out of desperation. Hope you get everything arranged soon

@Ohforgodssake123
Nobody cares whether you believe it or not, it happens, because single women are treated in a rather misogynistic way by the mortgage market and so they will bend the rules to even it out

Thats absurd. I earn much less than you do and still managed to get a mortgage for similar type sums after my divorce. I got a fantastic 5 year deal. I always use independant mortgage advisors and simply switched to another lender.

it is literal fraud. And I’m sorry but there is no way a broker could authorise that deal and the lender would want proof of rental income. In BTL mortgages there is something called an ICR (income cover ratio) where you must have proof that your rental yield will cover the mortgage and some. BTL mortgages aren’t FCA regulated either. There are not the safeguards that there are for residential customers. Affordability for landlords is really tough rn, a lot of landlords are selling up and leaving the market so I fail to see how that is a better option.

so you’re telling me these woman have doctored proof of rental income?

single women aren’t treated in a misogynistic way by the mortgage market, of course they aren’t. It is a regulated market space. BUT single households with higher outgoings have less buying power. This would be the same if if it were a single father. The fault isn’t with the bank, the fault is with society as women are often the default care givers.

Can you get a second mortgage with an alternative provider?

I would speak to a mortgage adviser definitely!