Buying a house on mat leave

[Beth98]

England mums!

I have the chance to be on paid Mat leave from April until February 2025. However, my landlord has announced he wants to sell the house we are in and we are hoping to buy the house off him after my mat leave. My isa money will be available from the end of January and my Mat leave would be ending on the 17th Feb.

We’d be hoping to start the mortgage application process at the end of January, but would it go against me to still be on mat leave? Would I be given a mortgage or not? Me and my partner are on £63,000 combined even if I drop down to 4 days a week, but I don’t know if they will consider my wage if I’ve been on Mat leave and I’m still on it.

I can’t make my landlord wait any longer as it’s not fair and the only reason he might even agree to waiting until January 2025 is because we are family friends!

Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated! I have 5 weeks until my Mat leave paperwork has to be in (I’m a teacher and will be taking Mat leave for the first few weeks and then SPL using a mix of full pay over the holidays and statutory pay in the other weeks).

Bought last year whilst on mat leave. I’m civil service, so had 9 months full pay. I shared my depts mat policy, my contract, and a letter from HR stating that they expected me back on x date. No issue at all

Thank you - was it not easier because you hadn't had any change in pay though?

I'm concerned they will deny us as I will be on Statutory Mat Pay at the time and will have been on and off throughout? X

We took out a mortgage when I was in the u paid bit of my maternity leave. I had to provide a letter from my (Civil Service) employer stating return to work date and salary.

It didn't add any problems at all to the process once the letter was provided.

Sorry what is 'u' paid? X

I'm on mat leave and buying a house. The banks want proof from your employer that you'll return to work (I also had to say if I was returning full or part time and what my new salary would be). I applied in the first 3months of mat leave. It didn't mean I couldn't get a mortgage but some companies won't give loans to ppl on mat leave and others will only give it if there is limited time left e.g. 3months. So being on mat leave meant I didn't have as many options for great rates but I was given a mortgage no problem

Mat leave shouldn't be a huge issue but be aware that many lenders will want to know about childcare costs and this can affect affordability.

Unpaid

We bought whilst I was in Mat leave. It was fine - showed proof of income and confirmed intention to return on same basis.

I’m about the buy and on maternity leave (only SMP).
I just had to provide a copy of my contract and a return to work letter. Good luck x

Someone else has already said bur during our last mortgage application we had to give details of childcare costs and this did effect our affordability. Even though it was only before and after school care and we have a higher join income then you. We had to take a longer term as a result.

Just make sure you have all these details before making any applications as not having information when they ask can slow things down.

We remortgaged while I was on maternity leave, as far as I remember they didn't ask for any extra info from me, as the pay slips were from the first 3 months of mat leave where my pay was basically the same (I got 12 weeks full pay).

Hi @Beth98 , just wondering how you got on with the mortgage application?

We are currently waiting to hear back from Nationwide on our mortgage application. I’m on maternity leave until September 24.

We already have a mortgage with Nationwide. We went with a broker this time as we wanted to see if there are any good rates around but turns out Nationwide offers the best one.

Our broker took my last payslip before I went on mat leave and one from January(my latest payslip whilst on mat leave). She also asked me if I will go back to work full time which I said yes because I need to!

They haven’t asked for any letters or anything from my work regarding going back to work though, so I don’t know if it’s a good sign or not? They’ve asked for more payslips from my husband as he’s paid weekly and we’ve been told
they are finishing the last reviews.

I’m currently in the process of getting a mortgage whilst on maternity leave. I had to provide a letter from my work stating the date of my return to work, my basic salary and what hours I will be working. I also had to provide the date when I started my maternity leave. They have assured me once they’ve received this then the mortgage should be approved 🤞🏻
i understand why they have to do these checks but at the same time i feel like we are being penalised for being on maternity. Plus we are managing to cover our current mortgage payments fine.