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

[YanaMumsnet]

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.
MNHQ
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[Scratchyfluffface]

We were in the position of easily earning enough to pay the monthly mortgage (it was only £50 more than our rent) but not being able to get enough deposit together - every time we thought we had got there house prices had gone up and we needed another £2/3k to hit 10%. We had to go with a more expensive 95% mortgage in the end

I understand that the more deposit people have the more security the bank has, but I always find it odd that a 20 year old who had never lived independently (for example) could be given a lump sum by their parents and be in a better position than someone who has a flawless rent payment record but can't get a big chunk together.

Now we have the mortgage I worry that when it comes to remortgaging we could end up stuck paying more, because we don't have lots of equity and affordability checks with a new lender start again and still don't seem to take payment history into account.

I'm not sure why this bothers me so much as our mortgage payment is now only c23% of our monthly salary (I have had a promotion and significant pay rise since we got the mortgage 3 years ago) so we are overpaying every month, and we have fixed for 5 years to give us time to figure out what to do if there is any type of market correction caused by brexit, but it does

[OldGrinch]

I didn't get my first mortgage/house until I was 35 and my partner who is 9 years older was 44. We couldn't have afforded it before. Fast forward 20 years and the house is paid off, but with 2 teenage DC we would love something a bit bigger/different but would need another mortgage and the problem is our ages. My partner is now in his early 60s and will be of pensionable age and whilst I will still be working and earn a reasonable salary I imagine it's going to be very tricky to get another mortgage on good rates. Therefore we feel really stuck ☹️

[jacqui5366]

I've been renting for 7 years, and have been saving for a deposit for our first family home, I would be worried that we would be turned down for the application, and this would affect my credit history for any future credit applications, I have a temporary contract and my husband has had a job for 3 years, but no job is guaranteed, so I would be worried about future long term payments if our jobs or hours were reduced.

[Mouldiwarp1]

We’re currently remortgaging. Bought house two years ago and had two year fixed rate. We struggled to get a mortgage initially mainly due to my being older and DH being self-employed even though we only needed a comparatively small amount. In the end we used a broker who was great - I doubt we’d have found one without her. I’d resigned myself to going onto the SVR when the fixed rate ended, but when brokers contacted us to see if we wanted them to look into our options we thought we might as well see what they came up with. It turns out we can get a five year fixed rate with our current lender for only slightly more than we’re paying now. I realise it’s not going to be absolutely the lowest rate around, but we didn’t have to go through any of the rigmarole of bank statements and forms, we’ve just had to sign a variation agreement, which they emailed us, and job done. So for those of you worrying about your fixed rate ending, it may be far simpler than you expect, even if your circumstances have changed.

[Pandaintheporridge]

What puts me off is the paperwork - pay, bank statements, utility bills are all online for me now and are not actually that easy to get hold off. You feel like you are up to no good when you tell a mortgage company that - and I've spent hours trying to download the "acceptable" versions of bank statements etc. Multiply this by two people and it is more hassle than you'd think.

[MadCatLadypuss]

Our concern would be having problems with the repayments or a big change in circumstances

[GetKnitted]

The trickiest thing about getting our first mortgage was knowing that we were expecting, but not knowing how much to mention to the mortgage lender. After all, they weren't making the mortgage depending on us never having children, they just weren't costing that into our affordability calculation

[blackleggingsandatshirt]

when do you think is the right time for you and your family to get a mortgage or to remortgage your home?

when you have some job security, and have a budget which means you can afford the repayments on a long term basis, without too much financial restraints.

Which personal circumstances do you think can be a problem to secure a mortgage?

A poor credit history, I defaulted on a credit card several years ago, when i was out of work and forgot to make the minimum payments, the last time I did a credit check, this was shown there, and put me off applying , as I know this appears on the history too.

Were you able to secure a mortgage or remortgage in a tricky situation?

I have a guarantor who would secure my mortgage if this is allowed (my parents)

What was your tricky situation?

Having a court summons on my credit history.

What advice would you give others in your situation?

Always pay your bills, credit cards and car insurance, and do not borrow money you cannot comfortably pay back.

[munchbunch12]

Similar to PP, we first took out a mortgage when we both worked full time... fast forward a few years and I'm part time and we have 2 children. We have been over-paying on our mortgage, but according to their calculators we can't afford a larger mortgage as our income has dropped, even though the new monthly repayments would be the same as what we've been paying for 3 years!! It's with the same lender too, so they can clearly see that in spite of our reduced income we have been able to repay the higher amount for years! To me, this situation is preposterous! If you show you can afford the new amount then what's the problem?

[custardcream1000]

Getting accepted as a single mum to 3 children. I've been renting for 15 years, never missed a payment and my monthly rent is greater than a monthly mortgage payment would be for the mortgage amount/repayment terms I want. Yet, the online calculators suggest I would not get accepted for the amount I would need to borrow.

[tobermoryisthebestwomble]

I've changed my job 3 times in 3 years (promotions) and worry this makes me look unreliable from a job security pov

[SuzCG]

Our first mortgage was easy - both in full time employment. By the time we moved house we owned our own business and this meant that hardly anyone was interested in lending to us. You try and do things to help yourselves but this ends up leaving you penalised as regards finance!

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

I worried that I would not be accepted and would have wasted money finding this out, and whether it would appear on my credit report and the repercussions if it did

[MoreProseccoNow]

Having rented for many years, it was stressful getting a mortgage as DP was self-employed and the lender was asking all sorts of questions eg querying accountant's qualifications. I was also returning to work from maternity leave. Got there in the end, but was too scared to give notice on rental property until it was all signed off (about a week before entry date).

So, with hindsight, I would think it's best to get a mortgage when you have no childcare costs & full-time permanent employment.

My worry just now, is that I am part-time & do extra hours on an ad-hoc temporary basis, and I'm not sure how these are considered by lenders.

[2stepsonthewater]

What makes me doubt whether I would get another mortgage is being a combination of self-employed and part-time employed, plus single parent. Does child maintenance from an ex count as income? It itsn't reliable. And also being less than 25 years off retirement age. I would also be worried about early redemption penalties if my situation changes.

[llynnnn]

My main worry is that the interest rate will rise at the end of my fixed term deal whoch will make my payments jump up significantly. We always take a fixed deal for 3 or 5 years to minimise this risk, but when it comes around I always feel anxious about what our payments will now be.

[fishnships]

Having finally paid off our mortgage I would be very dubious about re-mortgaging our property for any reason because I appreciate the freedom that having a bit of extra disposable income brings!

[KittyKat88]

We're presently in a fix until next year but I do worry about what the interest rates will be like particularly after Brexit (if it happens!). I also worry about job security (again, Brexit related) and want to make sure that we, as a family, keep all our finances at a manageable level so that if one of us loses our job we can still cover the mortgage. I would consider a remortgage to try and improve our property (eg new kitchen or loft extension) but I would think very carefully about the repayments and how long it would take to repay given that I'm heading fast towards 50!

[caringcarer]

My first marriage broke down and we divorced with just 3 years to complete on our mortgage. After a couple of years in a new relationship I used my share of sake of house to use as a deposit on another house with new fiancee. This house was large 4 bedrooms but did stretch us until fiancee sold his small house, but we loved house and bought it. We live in house with my 2 older children and a foster child of 13.

Now I work as a foster carer and would like to move to a larger house so we could care for another child. Each foster child must have their own bedroom.

Working as a foster carer is classed as self employed as through a fostering agency. I don;t know why but mortgage companies do not count fostering allowance as salary towards mortgage. Foster allowance is largely tax free and I think this has something to do with it but not entirely sure.

Dh has full time job with good salary and we between us own 6 buy to let houses so do have this taxable income too.

Between us we earn over £100k per year and about half is tax free. If we sell our house and repay mortgage outstanding we could put down £320k deposit.

Do L&C count fostering allowance as income towards mortgage multiples?

[madcatladyforever]

I'm 57 and have just started my new NHS job which is very secure with no probation period, it's unconditional.
I'm worried I'm too old although the repayments would be easy for me, about £300 per month.
I also don't have any payslips as it's my first week at work.
I need a mortgage now as I've found a house, I have 180,000 equity and want to borrow 30K.
What are my chances?

[LightOfAThousandStars]

My main worry would be as a family with very young children and only one partner in full time work if something were to happen such as redundancy then what would happen to the mortgage.

[MadameJosephine]

When I remortgaged I found it very difficult to get lenders to take into account my maintenance from my ex as income. Even though I could show several years worth of bank statements showing regular payments from him they would only take into account if I had a court order. This was really annoying as 1) he is a decent father and we have an amicable agreement so there’s no need for a court order and 2) I know from bitter experience with my son’s father that just because a court order exists it does not guarantee payment

Must add though that in the end I did use L&C to arrange my remortgage after seeing them recommended on an MN thread and they were awesome. Great communication and everything went smoothly, I’d have no hesitation in recommending them

[DarkDarkNight]

I feel locked out from being able to buy a house. I’m single and unless you earn the equivalent of a 2 income family there’s no hope I would get a mortgage even though property is much cheaper than average where I live. Not to mention how difficult it is to save for a deposit when paying out a lot in private rent.

I also cringe at the thought of somebody I don’t know casting a close eye over my finances.

[medicstudentmum]

My main worry is that as first time buyers we will be unable to buy a house in the area we are currently renting in

[LizB62A]

Is age ever a barrier to getting a mortgage? I tend to get 5 year fixes then remortgage to wherever is cheapest for the next 5 year fix.
As I get older (late 50s) is it going to get harder to get a mortgage?