Mortgage declined due to unaffordability, but I can afford it, what can I do to keep my rate?

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I've applied for a Natwest mortgage of £382,500.
This is 90 LTV as I have a 10% deposit of £42500 (the flat I bought costs £425,000).
I applied for a mortgage length of 30 years.
I earn 80k annually with a 10k bonus written into my contract.
I have been at my current company for 2 years and have received 2 annual bonus payments.
My first annual bonus payment was pro-rated for the 2 months I had been there and I received £1908.
My second annual bonus payment was £14,158.

Natwest have taken the average of my two bonus payments, which amounts to £8k, and are using this as reason for my unaffordability, since it's not the £10k figure I provided on my mortgage application and is not guaranteed.

I am due to speak to the underwriter tomorrow to gather more details. As I called Natwest and was given the above info by one of their customer service reps. Is there anything I can do or say or provide that will help me get this mortgage??? I'm at a loss!

If Natwest do not budge does anyone know if asking to change my mortgage length from 30 years to 35 years would work? Or asking to add more to my deposit?

I'm keen to keep my rate of 3.9% so applying for a brand new mortgage with rates of approx 6% is not what I want to do 😭

I think there are 3 things you can explore:

1 - extend the term - this will reduce the monthly payment
2 - put more deposit down
3 - pay off any debt you might have

Good luck!

Even on £90k I think you are asking to borrow about £20k too much. 4x salary is about the limit generally

OP, if I were you I'd try calling an independent mortgage broker, explaining the above and seeing what they can do.

Sometimes they have contacts at the big lenders who can smooth things over.

I helped my previous boss get a mortgage with her fiance - they were both loaded so it seemed like smooth sailing but very late in the day it turned out that he didn't have UK residency except via his job. The whole thing should have blown up at that point but their mortgage broker got on the phone, promised a round of golf etc etc and it went away, and they were able to buy the house.

It's a different world out there now but the brokers still have bills to pay, I'd say it's worth a few phone calls to try to find someone with a contact at NatWest who can help you out. Best of luck.

We got turned down for a Natwest mortgage but were given one easily by Halifax. Look elsewhere.

Why not reduce your offer on the flat to one you can get a mortgage for?

You are pushing yourself to the limit of affordability even if they accept the bonus, which doesn't feel like a good idea at the moment. They are also right that bonuses are not guaranteed and may not materialise in a prolonged recession. I would attempt to negotiate on the price - my EA friend says this is happening frequently right now.

You should use an independent financial advisor op and not one tied to the estate agent. I’ve used these twice and both times they’ve got it wrong and there was a short fall. As soon as you’re not 100% run of the mill, it is far easier as the IFA will know which lender to use for the best rates. It doesn’t cost you any more than if you DIY.

Out of interest OP, did you use a broker at the start of the process, or did you only approach Natwest? I only ask, as Natwest aren’t known for being one of the “softer” lenders so to speak, when it comes to affordability, whereas building societies are often slightly more flexible. Though even then, the bank are correct that the bonus is not guaranteed and in the current climate it isn’t unreasonable to expect it might not materialise in future years, as a PP said.

You need to consider long and hard if you can actually afford this mortgage, even if you do manage to get it. DH and I have approx. double your income combined and a similar mortgage amount over a similar term and our finances wouldn’t be comfortable if we had to cut that income in half, by a long way.

If your £10K bonus is truly written into your contract as a guaranteed minimum, then you just need to explain to the underwriter what you’ve explained to us i.e. that the first years bonus was prorated. I would expect that to be sufficient to be honest, all other criteria being met.

I work in Underwriting/credit risk. Not for Natwest.We and a lot of lenders don't like taking bonuses as guaranteed as they are bonuses and if truly guaranteed then why not just paid as basic. We generally take most recent years bonus into account but only at 50%. So in your case we would lend based on an income figure of £87079. In terms of affordability we calculate based on ONS figures which have recently been updated and increased but we also have multiples built in which are 4.49 x sole or joint you have to meet both parts of affordability
All lenders do things differently though and some will take all of them bonus, some won't but you may meet affordability anyway even if they use 50%
Problem you have is you need to use Natwest to keep that rate so extending the term may help

I do genuinely relate to yours.
Natwest mortgage underwriter is giving us our worst nightmare, regret not using a broker!

Apllication submitted in October and all seemed fine.
My income from employment is 59k
with an extra dividened of 3k

Underwriter queried the sustainablility of dividened, I have now asked for the dividened income to be disregarded which lowered the mortgage offer to near 265k. I topped my deposit and asked the underwriter to speed up the process.
HE HAS GONE QUIET. He has been sent a few emails by the Natwest´s mortgage advisor, still not heard back!

The seller and the top of the chain are keen to complete in December. I dont know what to do folks!
Any advice plz

Currently trying to mortgage a property with NatWest that we bought with cash at the start of the year and totally refurbished. They are being proper pains in the backside.

They have undervalued the property at over £120k less than what three independent estate agents said. I know they are being cautious right now but thank goodness I’m not trying to move house as that’s a huge difference.

The amount of extra paperwork we’ve had to submit and numerous questions back and forth have been exhausting. They are being so in depth and taking a very cautious approach to any lending.

Speak to a broker

It's not . There are banks offering far more such as HSBC who offered me 6 times ( I didn't take it)

We mortgaged recently with NatWest. The broker didn’t use DH’s bonus into account at all as only had one year.
we got the affordability by changing part of the mortgage to interest only. I’ve always been against interest only mortgages but it was a real needs must situation. Natwest accept sale of property as how you will pay off interest only part. As long as we use the bonus to overpay we wont be in a worse situation.

in terms of length I don’t know how old you are but natwest cuts off at 70.

Can only suggest you speak to a broker OP- alternative deals might not be as bad as you fear