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Original poster

Has anyone been approved for a mortgage while on/just about to go on maternity leave?

22 replies

SadPander · 28/05/2013 20:23

Hi, I've unexpectedly found myself pregnant (this wasn't supposed to happen until after we had moved house) and our sale fell through a few months ago. We are still trying to sell, but as baby is due in January I feel like I might be running out of time to sell our house, find another and get mortgage approved before I go on Maternity leave in December.

We will be staying with the same provider and porting our mortgage to the new house, but I know that this basically entails applying all over again. I will get 4 months full pay on Maternity leave, 4 months half and 4 month statutory maternity pay, before returning to work full time.

Has anyone been approved for a mortgage while on/just about to go on maternity leave? I've done a lot of sums so I know that we can afford the mortgage for the months when my salary will be reduced, but we certainly wont meet their standard multipliers during this period.

OP posts:

karron · 28/05/2013 20:31

I kind of did, in that I was on maternity leave when we applied for the mortgage and they required me to give them a signed letter confirming that I would return full time and give my return to work date. Was a bit silly as by the time we completed I had been back at work 3 weeks.

I think there ar some old threads on here if you do a search that mention it being discrimination to use pregnancy against some one when they apply for a mortgage. However we were also asked about the cost of our childcare which may be a problem for you depending on your wage and the amount you want to borrow.

BananaPie · 28/05/2013 20:40

Yes, we ported our mortgage and borrowed more in order to move while I was on mat leave. Work had to write to say I'd be going back. The mortgage provider asked whether I'd considered how we'd pay in the months where I was on no money - I explained my sums ( savings etc). Weirdly they didn't seem all that interested in nursery fees as a major outgoing, although I was at pains to explain to them how we'd manage.

SmellsLikeWeenSpirits · 28/05/2013 20:42

I was 8.5 mths pregnant when we bought our house. They didn't ask and I didn't mention that I was going to be on maternity leave.

noblegiraffe · 28/05/2013 20:45

They didn't seem to care that I was pregnant when we got our mortgage.

oscarwilde · 28/05/2013 20:46

Yes, didn't mention it though. If you already have DC and bank with them they will see child benefit coming in so they will ask about childcare costs.

EmpireBiscuit · 28/05/2013 20:47

Yeah, I was 27 weeks when we ported our mortgage. I didn't say anything but went into the bank to sign the paperwork with an obvious bump.

LastButOneSplash · 28/05/2013 20:47

Was in mat leave, needed a letter confirming I was going back. And if things are tight, I wouldn't mention any child care costs as some take them off your income.

mamapants · 28/05/2013 20:48

As posted above I had a letter from my employer confirming when I was returning to work and that I was returning to the same t+c as before.
They did include childcare costs in their assessments.
Because I was on maternity they sent the application to the underwriters to approve whereas otherwise it would have been approved in branch.
Good luck finding a house!

pizzaqueen · 28/05/2013 20:50

Yes, I was pregnant when we bought our first house. I just had to sign something saying I intended to go back to work fulltime after mat leave.

In the end I went back 3 days per week but this has never been queried as the mortgage is always paid on time. I don't even think the bank know I'm not working fulltime.

cantbloodywellchoose · 28/05/2013 20:55

We remortgaged the first time I was on mat leave and I got a letter from HR confirming when I was due back to work and on what salary and that was fine. Scottish Widows I think that mortgage was with. Mind you, our current HR person is a bit more switched on and might not write such a letter (or would caveat it with "but retains her right to completely change her mind and not come back to work at all") as I'd only been off for 3 months at the time and had neither confirmed officially to work when I was coming back and what hours I was proposing to do. Worth asking work though.

OrchidFlakes · 28/05/2013 22:04

DS as 7 months old and still on mat leave when mortgage was approved. We move next week with 3 months mat leave to go!

PolterGoose · 29/05/2013 07:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wishfulmakeupping · 29/05/2013 08:08

I nearly moved at 6 months pregnant but sale fell through they didn't ask me so mortgage went through fine. My dd is now here :) just got approved mortgage in principle I will need to get a letter to say that I'm going back to work within 3 months and t &c it is harder once your on mat leave fingers crossed you sell OP

imme · 29/05/2013 08:15

We got mortgage approved when I was three months into my maternity leave. Also needed letter from work. This was with Post Office. Beware though some providers will decline. We first checked with First Direct who gave us a straight no.

Wishfulmakeupping · 29/05/2013 08:34

Yes forgot to mention we got turned down by abbey initially I'm still skeptical about this mortgage in principle now fingers crossed its actually ok

Mandy21 · 29/05/2013 12:20

As others have said, it can depend on the lender. You'll generally be asked to provide 3 months' pay slips ? so if you do it before maternity leave, probably not an issue. If you do it at the start of your maternity leave when you are still getting full pay, probably not an issue either. The problem will come (or at least its my experience) is when your pay slips don't show your earning capacity. I was about 10 months into my maternity leave when a house we wanted to buy finally came on the market. I spoke to a number of lenders ? iirc it was the banks / building societies that were part of the Santander group that turned us down flat (they would only use my 'current' income for the multiple calculation, so we couldn't get anywhere near the amount we needed) ? but we did get a mortgage eventually as others have said by providing a letter from my employer saying I was due to go back on X date and my salary would be Y.

The difficulty you will have if you do leave it until you're on maternity leave is that if you then have to explain your income has dropped because of maternity leave (but it will be going back to its previous rate) is that the majority of lenders will then have to include childcare costs in their affordability calculations. What we thought we could afford and what the banks said we could afford were not the same, so even if you've done your calculations, you may come unstuck.

Original poster

SadPander · 29/05/2013 16:28

Thank you for all the replies. Wishful fingers crossed for your mortgage!

Nice to hear that most of you have managed to do this, I've really never wanted to have children where we currently live and am starting to feel a bit trapped. Hopefully if we could still move after the baby is born then that gives us more chance of getting out of here!

I have considered the issue with childcare costs too, as lots of you have mentioned. Although I know we can afford them I appreciate that the bank might not agree. I'm not sure if they actually deduct this ammount from my earnings, but childcare will be quite a substancial ammount and we could come untcuk here. We don't have any other DC's so while I'm still on full pay I'm hoping to just not mention the babies existence or childcare costs at all. If this isn't possible I had thought of telling them that my Mum will be having the baby while I work (she potentially could but I know full well she wont, so this would be a lie). Is this a really stupid idea that I'm going to get caught out/go to hell for?!

OP posts:

Mandy21 · 29/05/2013 17:49

I'm not sure about declaring something on a mortgage application that isn't true - this may well come back to haunt you.

There are obviously 2 hurdles you need to get over - 1 is getting your income to the level you need it to be in order for the multiples to work.

Secondly, you need the bank to say you can afford it. The first obstacle is declaring childcare costs if you're going to have them, but even if get over that hurdle, there is another step as I understand it, where the bank has a monthly figure in its sytem that you need to have "left over" to be able to meet based on your circumstances (I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm completely wrong). So, you're asked what your outgoings are, and how many dependants you have etc. If you do it after the baby is born, you're a unit of 3 - and that needs a higher "left over" figure than a unit of 2 does. Hope that makes sense!! Its a minefield. Good luck

crazyhead · 29/05/2013 18:59

I had two mortgages approved (one on a buy to let, one residential) on mat leave no problem. It helped that completion went through just before I went back to work. I rang the providers, pointed this out and provided letters.

I don't personally see how not using your mum for childcare but saying you might would rebound because it is completely unprovable whether you said it in good faith? Ultimately they'll only care if you pay, so the best rates are what matters. Anyway, people's circs change all the time the second they take out a mortgage. Perhaps this is fast and loose of me.

Original poster

SadPander · 29/05/2013 19:42

Thanks mandy that does make sense and is really helpful. I get 4 months full pay on maternity so hopefully I could get things sorted by then before they start asking too many awkward questions.

crazy think I may be a bit fast and loose too as I was thinking along the same lines as you! Feasibly it could be the case that family were going to provide childcare but that this changed when the time came. I know my mum would be happy to say this was the case if needed. I can totally understand that some people will think this very irresponsible of me, but I really have spent a lot of time checking that we can afford this with money left over every month. We will have to pay an early re payment charge if we need to change provider, so really need to do everything I can to get approved by the current lender!

OP posts:

LastButOneSplash · 29/05/2013 20:10

My pay slips even when on full pay showed a deduction then a payment so they would be able to tell it was mat leave from the off.

And yes I said family would be taking on childcare. They won't be. Circumstances, erm, change and all that. I can't see how that would come back to bite you. As long as you pay, they're not really going to care, and there's no proof you lied rather than things changed. It can be a huge salary chunk.

Original poster

SadPander · 29/05/2013 20:31

Thanks Splash glad to see I'm not the only person to consider this. As you say, as long as we pay I don't suppose they will check this at a later date. It seems like it could be more difficult, but not impossible. Just to have a bit of hope it could still happen makes me feel a lot better! This is by no means the worst area, but I just always wanted to be somewhere I was happier before having children, really don't want to be stuck here until I've stopped paying childcare!

OP posts:

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