Maternity leave and mortgage application

[brettgirl2]

My DH met with mortgage adviser this morning and apparently because I am on maternity leave my salary (which is higher than his) can't be taken into account?

As it happens we will be able to get just about enough on his salary alone as we are not overmortgaging ourselves but it would have been nice to have some leeway.

Is this normal? It seems ridiculous to me - if I gave notice to my employer today then I could go back before we get to completion!

Hi all,

I'm also trying to find out best way to get a mortgage whilst on maternity leave. I'm currently on SML (the £125 per week) planning to go back to work full time in 3-4 months time. I could get a letter from work to confirm this.

Does anyone know any banks or brokers that are more likely or more helpful for people in our situation (or ones to avoid)?!

Thanks in advance for your help.

We got a new mortgage when I was on ML. We bought a new house and for other reasons as well as the ML we had to use the Halifax, one of the developer's chosen lenders. I just had to get a letter from my employer confirming my return to work date and my salary.

I'm in a similar situation - just been refused a mortgage from First Direct.

They won't take any of my income into consideration. Even if they only considered my husband's salary plus 6 months of my salary and 6 months maternity allowance, that would still be more than their minimum required income.

According to the following financial service ombudsman case study 37/3, refusing on the grounds of pregnancy is unlawful: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/37/banking-equal-access.htm

I'm following their guide to taking action and have completed step 1, which is to formally register a complaint with First Direct: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

Hi all. It's been a few months since the last post so hope this helps. I may be a one-off but FD have just approved a mortgage for me although I'm on mat leave and it is on my name alone. They need a letter confirming intended return date and salary from employer but that was all. Maybe they have changed their policy?

I got my mortgage after I whispered to them 'you are breaking the law - have a careful read of the Equality Act 2010' and they couldn't run fast enough to offer me a mortgage. I am with the Woolwich and the mortgage is underwritten by Barclays. Sadly they then went and screwed up further by refusing to acknowledge our application because we stated we were married but I still use my maiden name. Barclays started writing to me calling me 'Mrs ^my husband's surname' and asking for my wedding certificate so they could verify that I was married, to which I replied I do not go by that name and that it is discriminatory to ask a woman for her marriage certificate when they wouldn't consider asking a man the same thing, and could they please refer to me by my correct name. They went 'whoops, maybe your husband put your name down wrong' and I said 'absolutely not - firstly I photocopied the application form and secondly I have been married for 16 years and my husband knows what my name is.'

Barclays. It means 'Shower of Shit' in Klingon or something.

I had to get a letter from my employer and also wrote a letter myself to confirm my return to work. our mortgage is with Santander. It might have helped that I was extending an existing mortgage due to our house move and also that I'm a qualified accountant.

They wanted to reduce my salary by childcare costs but I said my mum would be looking after DD.