Mortgage advice - First time buyers or not?

[scintilla87]

After many years of renting and living abroad my DH and I are looking to buy a house (South East) however we’re wondering how we would be classified in the eyes of a mortgage lender.

I inherited a small flat when I was 18, which was sold within a year. My DH bought a property when he was 22 and sold it a few years later. Neither of us have owned a property in over 15 years.

Can any mortgage experts tell me if we would now be classed as first time buyers or not?

No. You’ve both owned property before!

No you are not. Whether you will get caught is another matter but land registry records will show you have owned properties so it's a big risk.

I suspected as much, thanks :) Yep definitely wouldn’t want to claim we were and try to fudge paying the extra stamp duty.

For mortgage purposes, it probably doesn't make a difference. The only advantage I can see from being a FTB is that they're likely to offer you a mortgage with a smaller deposit, and will charge you a higher interest rate for the privilege. But hopefully you've managed to save a decent deposit, so you don't need this anyway?

However, as others have mentioned, you don't qualify for stamp duty allowances due to being FTB so will have to pay the standard rate.

I was classed as a FT buyer by the bank even though I already owned, although that was mortgage free so I'd ask and see what they say

I work for a high street building society, we a class FTB as someone who's never had a mortgage or hasn't had one in the past 3 years. However this wouldn't apply re stamp duty etc just helps with the rates we offer for higher LTV

That’s interesting to know @goldilockss! I’ve never had a mortgage before so it’s a bit of a minefield at the moment. Although I guess all will become clear when we speak with a mortgage advisor

Well as long as you are honest I hope you are lucky. You didn't actually buy did you...... So crossing fingers.

I work as an Underwriter for high Street lender and you do not qualify as a FTB as both you and your partner have owned properties in the past