Mortgage query

[itellyouwhat]

Wondering if anyone could help me with my queries ?
We wish to move very soon and would like to port out existing mortgage to the new property and then borrow the rest we need. We wish to borrow the maximum we are able to. I’ve spoken to two separate people at our current mortgage lender who both ran eligibility & affordability checks over the phone with me and told me that in principle we could borrow x amount. This amount is a lot more than I was expecting based on our salaries and outgoings and monthly repayments would make things a bit tight so I am a bit confused. The online calculators I am filling in with earnings and outgoings are giving me a much lower figure. We obviously need to know before we set our hearts on the wrong house! I would use a broker, but as we are simply porting our existing mortgage and borrowing more from the same lender I don’t think we need to? DP has been employed by a company for nearly 2 years on a self employed basis but is paid a fixed salary every month and has a 2 month notice period. Would he still need to supply two years worth of accounts? He has just taken on some more regular work, which again is a fixed sum every month but as this has only just started would the mortgage company take it into consideration?

DP has been employed by a company for nearly 2 years on a self employed basis but is paid a fixed salary every month and has a 2 month notice period.
He's not self employed then.
THey are treating him as an employee.

Employed was the wrong word to use. On-going contract then. He is responsible for paying his own tax and NI but has been working for this particular company for nearly two years.

I assume he's taken IR35 advice

but either way,
with that regular an income and a notice period better than most employments, its effectively employment

Be careful. The bank decide how much they are prepared to lend you based on a very complicated risk profile they develop based on the information you give them. You, as grown ups, decide how much you are prepared to borrow. These two amounts are not necessarily the same. Only borrow what you can afford to repay. There's no point having a lovely house but no money to live on.

And yes, your OH's contract sounds a bit dodgy to me too.

Thanks for your replies. OH is self employed, the main source of his income over the past two years has come from one company. He also has other work which hasn't been ongoing for 2 years hence my confusion as to what earnings the mortgage company will look at. He has an accountant who gave him advice so i am assuming he is paying tax in the correct way! I'm justa bit confused by the initial phone calls with the lender agreeing to lend us x amount in principle. Without a broker I can't see how we can get a more exact figure before we put an offer on a house.

Your DH is probably working as a ltd company outside IR35 (paid both a wage and dividends) he would need to speak to his accountant to understand what he should tell the mortgage provider what his salary is etc... If he is operating like that in some instances he is considered employed and others he is a self employed/both and it depends how he is paying himself.

Ignore how much the banks are willing to give you. Look solely at how much you can afford to pay back each month, and make sure you have enough left over each month for unexpected expenditure... Car repairs and the like.

If we had borrowed as much as the banks were offering us, we'd be eating beans on toast every night. I find their calculations pretty unrealistic!!!