Mortgage capacity report

Starbuck80 · 2025-10-20T16:22:49+00:00

Mortgage Capacity report I’m in the process of divorcing my ex and had a mortgage capacity report done. I have no income as a full time sahm or savings and it’s come back based on my UC and child benefit (kids are 2 and 5) that I can get a mortgage of £190k with repayments of £1200 per month. There’s no way I can afford this plus all the other bills. My solicitor has said that this means that I have no mortgage capacity and I agree but will my ex have a case for me taking out a mortgage? Also, before anyone starts coming at me to go and get a job, I’m trying to. It turns out that while I didn’t ‘sacrifice my career’ for my ex, I did put it on hold and six years out of my industry has a major impact on employability. I’m struggling to even get interviews. Even recruitment agencies are telling me it’s a tough market out there at the moment. Thanks!

millymollymoomoo · 20/10/2025 17:54

Your ex will try to rationalise that you can get some mortgage ( especially with a return to ft employment)

you will try to state that it’s zero

whats the overall status of assets and needs ?

Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 18:13

millymollymoomoo · 20/10/2025 17:54

Your ex will try to rationalise that you can get some mortgage ( especially with a return to ft employment)

you will try to state that it’s zero

whats the overall status of assets and needs ?

He’s got £4.5m premarital assets with £850k in the matrimonial pot. My solicitor has said that I have a housing needs-based case rather than the sharing principle which I full understand and accept as the majority of his investment assets are ring fenced and have never been mixed with matrimonial assets (he would take money off his mum for matrimonial related stuff rather than accessing his own assets and I was completely unaware of where the money was coming from up until the end of last year). He wants to keep the family 5 bed house worth £1.1m and has proposed £400k for me to find a 3 bed house.

I’m already in massive debt from having to take a loan out to pay for legal fees as he’s been dragging everything out for almost a year with solicitor negotiations still to start.

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millymollymoomoo · 20/10/2025 18:28

It sounds like you have a very strong case for more than the 400k

what do you need to house you and the children?

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 19:09

Why on earth would anyone think you would get less than half of the matrimonial pot given your circumstances? That’s very strange. Surely you’ll get far more and be able to buy a house outright?

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 19:10

Your debts all go in to the pot to be shared too.

Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 21:18

So I live in South East London and the price of a 3 bedroom terrace is £650-700k. If my ex is unable to keep the marital home, he’ll be looking for a 4/5 bed which will likely be £900k+ My solicitor has said that courts don’t like a huge disparity in housing for children so they’ll likely be unwilling to sign off on a £400k place for me and £1.1m for my ex. For me, I need somewhere that is a long term home (at least until both kids are 18) and doesn’t need any major work done to it as I won’t have the financial resources.

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Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 21:23

My ex honestly thinks I’m being unreasonable and entitled. I keep having to remind him that if it was just him and I, we’d split the marital pot and go our separate ways. The children are my main priority but for him it is all about ‘protecting’ his wealth.

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Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 21:25

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 21:18

So I live in South East London and the price of a 3 bedroom terrace is £650-700k. If my ex is unable to keep the marital home, he’ll be looking for a 4/5 bed which will likely be £900k+ My solicitor has said that courts don’t like a huge disparity in housing for children so they’ll likely be unwilling to sign off on a £400k place for me and £1.1m for my ex. For me, I need somewhere that is a long term home (at least until both kids are 18) and doesn’t need any major work done to it as I won’t have the financial resources.

Hi reasoning for a 4/5 bedroom house is that he needs somewhere for when his mum comes to stay and a separate gym/office/lego room 🙄

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arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:28

The assets are accrued from when you start living together, if that starts before marriage. So if any of his millions of premarital assets were accrued whilst you were living together, as I understand it, they’ll also be in the pot.

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:29

What is his salary?

LittleOwl153 · 20/10/2025 21:29

Pensions? Make sure those are included.

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:40

When I got divorced, it came down to what did we both ‘need’ to look after the kids our respective amounts, not what was ‘fair’ which is what we had in mind when we went to the mediator. We compiled a spreadsheet of outgoings and incomings. Mine was in the negative. So that was the amount he had to give me in spousal. Although I understand now that a clean break is more preferable. But we went 50:50 as I didn’t realise anything else was an option. Probably evened out either way in the end.

Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 21:55

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:28

The assets are accrued from when you start living together, if that starts before marriage. So if any of his millions of premarital assets were accrued whilst you were living together, as I understand it, they’ll also be in the pot.

The assets are from a financial settlement he received when his father died in a car accident 40yrs ago so it’s ring-fenced unless needs can’t be met with marital assets. Also, even if they weren’t ring-fenced, I’d only ask for enough to house the children and I. His investments are in the US which also adds another layer of complexity.

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Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 21:56

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:29

What is his salary?

£230k including bonus. He says that he’s going down to four days in Nov so that will reduce his salary.

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Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 22:00

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:40

When I got divorced, it came down to what did we both ‘need’ to look after the kids our respective amounts, not what was ‘fair’ which is what we had in mind when we went to the mediator. We compiled a spreadsheet of outgoings and incomings. Mine was in the negative. So that was the amount he had to give me in spousal. Although I understand now that a clean break is more preferable. But we went 50:50 as I didn’t realise anything else was an option. Probably evened out either way in the end.

We tried mediation but the US assets added a layer of complexity that they couldn’t help with plus we were polar opposites in what we believed my ‘needs’ were. It also took three financial disclosures before he came clean about his total assets! We’re now trying to start solicitor negotiations but we’re 5 months in and he’s still not replied to my questionnaire. My solicitor doesn’t think we’ll resolve it via negotiation and that we will likely need arbitration or a private FDR.

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Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 22:02

arethereanyleftatall · 20/10/2025 21:40

When I got divorced, it came down to what did we both ‘need’ to look after the kids our respective amounts, not what was ‘fair’ which is what we had in mind when we went to the mediator. We compiled a spreadsheet of outgoings and incomings. Mine was in the negative. So that was the amount he had to give me in spousal. Although I understand now that a clean break is more preferable. But we went 50:50 as I didn’t realise anything else was an option. Probably evened out either way in the end.

I’d be totally happy with a clean break. My solicitor has mentioned adding a lump sum onto my housing needs instead of ongoing spousal maintenance.

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Original poster

Starbuck80 · 20/10/2025 22:09

LittleOwl153 · 20/10/2025 21:29

Pensions? Make sure those are included.

He’s got about £350k in the UK and has listed his £175k US pensions under his premarital assets so as to try and ring fence them.

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millymollymoomoo · 21/10/2025 07:06

How long have you been married?

there is enough in just the marital pot to provide for your needs really,

you should get a large chunk of the 850k and pension or offset that with more capital,

plus you’ll get sizeable cms

jeaux90 · 21/10/2025 08:06

OP your solicitor will look at history of his income and yours so it’s irrelevant that he is now saying he will go down to 4 days. They look at housing needs first and foremost and then whether you are both able to sustain the housing in terms of income. Yes you will be expected to work and pay your bills, spousal is really unusual now but you may well get a larger share of any equity and he might want to trade that off to protect his pension. Remember this is a negotiation BUT the court will be looking at the DC housing needs first.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 21/10/2025 08:37

He should be able to get a million pound mortgage so should be able to stay in the family home and give you lots more of the current equity! Remind him that your home will be inherited by his children eventually
the im going to reduce my days won’t hold weight in a private fdr my friend had similar when her ex DH wanted to move abroad and drop his salary when he got there- they didn’t take account of this lose plan that hadn’t been set in motion, they assessed him on current earnings similar to your ex DH
how much will the kids love with both of you? He only needs a lego room as much as you need an art studio

Original poster

Starbuck80 · 21/10/2025 09:08

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 21/10/2025 08:37

He should be able to get a million pound mortgage so should be able to stay in the family home and give you lots more of the current equity! Remind him that your home will be inherited by his children eventually
the im going to reduce my days won’t hold weight in a private fdr my friend had similar when her ex DH wanted to move abroad and drop his salary when he got there- they didn’t take account of this lose plan that hadn’t been set in motion, they assessed him on current earnings similar to your ex DH
how much will the kids love with both of you? He only needs a lego room as much as you need an art studio

So I proposed 70/30 during school term time and 50/50 during school holidays. Up till I asked for a divorce it was pretty much me caring for them the whole time. He was up in arms about this suggestion during mediation telling me they were his children as well and they deserved 50/50 with both of us so we trialled it. However his frequent international travel, constant requests to change days and illnesses (aka colds), meant it was more like 70/30. So this is what I’m going for with childcare arrangements, at least until our youngest starts school.

I’d love to do a 50/50 childcare agreement with him as I believe the kids need both of us but it’s just not practical at this time.

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arethereanyleftatall · 21/10/2025 09:20

It really blows my mind how horrible some people are. Your ex in this case.

myself and ex had one bottom line ‘what is best for our children.’ It didn’t matter that we were breaking up, we still wanted the best for our children, obvo.

so for us, best for the children was living with me in the same family home, and same as when we were together, that I was there for them outside of school hours. My exes salary could accommodate that, so did.

the idea to me that a father would out of spite, because he can well afford it, want to kick them out of their family home for 70% of the time, is just baffling.

I’d keep pushing the narrative op, ‘what is best for our children.’

Original poster

Starbuck80 · 21/10/2025 14:33

arethereanyleftatall · 21/10/2025 09:20

It really blows my mind how horrible some people are. Your ex in this case.

myself and ex had one bottom line ‘what is best for our children.’ It didn’t matter that we were breaking up, we still wanted the best for our children, obvo.

so for us, best for the children was living with me in the same family home, and same as when we were together, that I was there for them outside of school hours. My exes salary could accommodate that, so did.

the idea to me that a father would out of spite, because he can well afford it, want to kick them out of their family home for 70% of the time, is just baffling.

I’d keep pushing the narrative op, ‘what is best for our children.’

Absolutely. To be honest his behaviour has just confirmed why leaving him has been the best decision.

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BucksDD · 10/03/2026 17:09

Have you chatted to a Mortgage Capacity Report company? They completed a joint report for us, we had a pretty smooth final stages once we got one back.

https://themortgagecapacityreportco.co.uk/