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What would make you worry about applying for a mortgage or remortgage – let’s talk about it with L&C Mortgages

310 replies

YanaMumsnet · 30/09/2019 10:15

There are lots of situations that people think would make securing a mortgage or remortgage tricky, such as while pregnant or on maternity leave, going part-time or freelance, or maybe while on probation in a new job. With this in mind, L&C Mortgages would like to find out more about the concerns and risks you are faced with or might even put you off from applying for a mortgage or remortgage.

Here’s what L&C has to say: “At L&C we make mortgages easy. There are lots of myths about how difficult it is to apply for one in certain situations but we can demystify them for you. If you’re looking for a mortgage deal while on maternity leave, are pregnant, going part-time or on a contract we’re here to help you. We search across 90 lenders to find the best deal for you and our qualified advisers use their experience and knowledge of which lenders are likely to be understanding about your situation. Our service is fee free and we’ll be there from start to finish taking care of the paperwork. Our aim is to make life easier for you so we’d really like to know what situations would concern parents or parents-to-be when applying for a mortgage or remortgage.”

So we are asking you, when do you think is the right time for you and your family to get a mortgage or to remortgage your home? Which personal circumstances do you think can be a problem to secure a mortgage? Were you able to secure a mortgage or remortgage in a tricky situation? What was your tricky situation? What advice would you give others in your situation?

Whatever your experiences and concerns are of your family’s mortgage situation, share them on the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw.
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What would make you worry about applying for a mortgage or remortgage – let’s talk about it with L&C Mortgages
OP posts:
MrsRobert · 03/10/2019 21:06

We remortgaged while I was on maternity leave. My 5 year fixed term rate was finishing so I used a broker.

I had to use the local library to print out documents because I only use my phone and don't have a computer or printer anymore. The mortgage lenders won't accept electronic copies so I needed to request paper copies of bank statements etc.

The most difficult one while on maternity leave was getting my payslips from the past six months from my employer at the last minute to secure a good rate. A kind person in my Finance Dept. had to email them to me to print out.

Another issue is that we realised that houses seem to be undervalued by mortgage lenders which was a bit of a shock!

BeverlyGoldbergsHairAndJumpers · 03/10/2019 22:01

Something that kind of worried me was having to give three months bank statements and having them scrutinised. We then had to send another ones when the house buying process took a bit longer. I hated having someone look through them. I know it’s confidential and they are professional but a part of me wondered if they judged me for my Friday night takeaways - maybe they thought I should stop eating so much and watching tv and go out a bit Grin

StickChildNumberTwo · 04/10/2019 09:43

I got my first mortgage as a post-grad student with a decent grant. What confused them completely was that as a student my income wasn't taxable, and so my net and gross incomes were the same. It was a struggle to find a lender who would take that into account in terms of what they would lend me.

Quietvoiceplease · 04/10/2019 14:31

We recently remortgaged and I found the process stressful: we can cover mortgage costs (though they are high) and nothing has altered in our income/costs since we originally moved, but there was always the concern that somehow the rules might have changed and we would not be eligible or the rates we would be offered would be higher. This may be irrational, but the process made us feel that way.

m0jit0 · 04/10/2019 15:19

We are both self employed and have several years of accounts and passed the affordability checks but still have the irrational fear we will be turned down. Thankfully on a 5 year fixed and not going to move so don't have to worry for a few years again.

CleopatraTomato · 04/10/2019 17:33

I'm 58. Was self employed for twenty years - even though I was trying to get a mortgaeg with an awful lot of equity behind me - I just couldn't borrow.

Really need to borrow - relationship breakdown so have to move. No-one will lend even though I'd have 70% equity /30% loan on the purchase price.

fishnships · 04/10/2019 18:38

I'd worry about all the interest i'd be paying over the years.

sarat1 · 04/10/2019 19:42

First time we took out a mortgage I was worried we would be successful getting approved. Second time, it was whether all paperwork through in time.

Justneedaflippingtemporaryname · 04/10/2019 20:04

Being self-employed

OnlyToWin · 04/10/2019 21:37

We need to change our mortgage deal in the next couple of years. We are deciding whether to overpay and be mortgage free sooner or keep it as it is and have more spare income for living. It is a difficult balance.

TaleOfTheContinents · 04/10/2019 22:17

My DH and I will be buying our first home next year and are worried about the portion of his salary that will be taken into account. He works in sales and has an excellent base salary, but also works mandatory overtime, ad hoc overtime and earns commission. We hope that 100% if it will be taken into consideration because it would boost our affordability to the level that we want.

We've asked lots of people and they say that it's best to go through a mortgage advisor in situations like this because they know which lenders accommodate those extras. So we will!

Jem01 · 05/10/2019 01:02

I'm worried our financial situation may change (due to health/sickness, maternity leave or just employment)

MsJuniper · 05/10/2019 08:09

We took out a mortgage at the end of 2016 on our first home on a 3 year deal. Since then I've had a second child and after finding my previous job impossible to juggle with family life, I am currently retraining to a more stable profession which should pay off in the long run, but currently means I am on about half my former pay and my contract is for 1 year so on paper things don't look too good. As the product is shortly up for renewal, I have to work out what to do next but am not sure where to turn.

The BS has written to say that if we don't arrange a new deal we will go onto their standard rate which is much higher, but I am not sure we would be eligible for another product in our current situation and I don't fully understand what the implications of that could be if we tell them. I'm quite anxious about it to be honest and wish I knew more about how it all works.

lillypopdaisyduke · 05/10/2019 08:17

I would love a remortgage to carry out a loft conversion, but I am wanting another child in 18 months time, I want to be able to have the larger house, and bigger family and be able to have mortgage payments which can be manageable in the short term and higher in the longer term.

vdbfamily · 05/10/2019 11:14

We had always lived on one income and had slowly paid off an albeit small mortgage. After a period of unemployment for my husband and me suddenly needing to find full time work, we were suddenly in a position, when he found a job, that we had 2 fulltime incomes for the first time since having children but lived in a small house but had no mortgage.
we decided to buy the biggest house we could afford and borrowed as much as we were allowed to facilitate that. The plan is that at soon as there are just the 2 of us at home we will downsize and have some disposable income to live on. My husband has no pension but I will have an ok NHS one.

theAntsareMyFriends · 05/10/2019 20:00

Our fixed rate will be up for renewal soon and since taking it out I've gone part time, now at risk of redundancy and about to go on maternity leave. We'll probably renew with our current lender as I think that means we can skip some of the affordability checks.

We can afford the repayments on DPs salary but worry about rate we will be offered.

What always annoys me is that mortgage lenders don't look enough into your out goings. We live very cheaply so have more disposable income than people we know who earn more but have higher cost of living but they could probably still borrow more.

IWouldBeSuperb · 05/10/2019 20:24

I'm worried about remortgaging now I'm part time post mat leave -

Trying to decide if it's worth going back full time for a while before we move...

Someonesayroadtrip · 05/10/2019 20:28

I worry about house valuations. Every time in the past 15 years we have applied for a mortgage the values have come in substantially less than what they have sold for, like £90,000 valuation and selling for 170,000, absolutely shocking. It's almost 50% out. This want unique to one company or one house. I just find it so odd.

Cashncarry · 05/10/2019 21:20

I’m in the middle of splitting up with my H and whilst I hope I’ll get more than 50% of the equity, it won’t be much more and still won’t be enough to buy a property big enough for me and the kids outright. I earn an average wage so might have been able to get a modest mortgage to top up a big deposit. However we both lost our jobs a couple of years ago so had to suspend full payments on the mortgage for a while. We’ve consolidated the arrears now but my credit history is not good and I’m very worried about the future. I’ll either be looking at rented or a high interest bad credit mortgage I think so it would be useful to get specific advice on whether to apply for a mortgage straight away or wait until my credit history improves.

Theimpossiblegirl · 05/10/2019 21:25

I worry about my dds being able to save enough deposit and get mortgages. They are both over 16 so I'm looking into opening up help to buy ISAs before the scheme stops but need to understand them more.

caz123456 · 05/10/2019 21:36

I'm coming to the end of my fixed rate term & I'm worried that now I earn less I won't be able to mortgage and would effectively be a mortgage prisoner stuck with my current lender on the SVR.

vickyors · 05/10/2019 22:06

To get a mortgage- when you don't have a kid on the way..
I would think if you have credit cards or issues with debt it might be hard to get a mortgage... but I don't really know.
I secured a mortgage at the very beginning of the financial crisis.. thankfully it all went ok..
I would give others the advice that owning a home is more expensive than you think, and you are then responsible for everything. We had a boiler break suddenly and it was £5k we simply hadn't budgeted for..

Verysadpants · 06/10/2019 00:22

I worry that the mortgage payer is taking all the risk of the house losing value, and the mortgage companies not so much. The mortgage company values your house, and you take out a mortgage for that amount. Then, oh ho, something comes along, e.g. recession, and your hours are cut. You struggle. You're fixed rate comes to an end, but they won't let you re-mortgage because of your lower income. So you have to pay a standard rate, which THEY decide (the Standard Rate - the misleadingly reassuring name for the Whatever We Currently Feel Like Charging You Rate, the indeterminate rate you had to agree to as a condition of the mortgage). Of course you can afford this because it's more than the rate they say you can't afford - obviously.

So, there you are, in a house they have valued, paying a rate they choose. If you can't, they come and get said house. Fair enough. But then, when they have come and got the house...if there is any negative difference between the sale price - using a 'marketing' method and agent/auction of THEIR choice - of the house THEY valued, which you couldn't pay because of a rate THEY set by whatever shadowy means....they will STILL come and hunt you down like a dog for the difference between said reduced sold price of the house and your borrowing. Plus charges, of course, for the privilege of being such a feckless idiot.
Other than that what's not to like?
Oh - wait a minute - did they crash the global economy? Was that them? Cos that was quite worrying also.

Laney79 · 06/10/2019 07:21

My salary is the one that pays our mortgage as my partner works part time. I'm due to have our first baby at new year but as a result of the financial constraints will have to go back to work full time after my full maternity pay ends in May (we're doing shared parental leave). I'd love to go down to 4 days a week but can't risk it until our mortgage is renewed in spring 2021-other concern is the impact Brexit will have.

WowOoo · 06/10/2019 07:49

I'd be worried about my working hours. I'd love to go from 5 days to four but this would affect my salary. We'd have to make sure payments were affordable.
The state of the economy is also a big factor. Nobody is certain what will happen to interest rates or my job security. There is too much doubt. It's made us hold off on possibly moving house and remortgaging until things are way more settled.