Are you looking to buy your first home with help from family members? Put your questions to the Santander experts. £200 voucher to be won

[LibbyMumsnet]

This Q&A is now complete - there will be no further answers posted.

With sky high house prices, student loans and rising rent costs, getting on the property ladder is challenging. Santander’s first time buyer research (undertaken in 2021) shows that over a third of first time buyers are hoping to buy their first home with help from family and friends in the next 5 years. If this is you, and you have a question about preparing to buy your first home, you’re in the right place.

The experts:
Graham Sellar, Head of Mortgage Development, Santander - Graham has more than 30 years of experience working in financial services, and has been a mortgage specialist at Santander since 1996. He is regularly quoted as an expert voice in the media on all things mortgage related.

Hayley Burton, Financial Planning, Santander - Hayley has 25 years of experience in retail banking and 6 years’ experience in the wealth area, where she leads teams across the UK who provide expert, trusted investment and protection advice to customers based on their individual needs and to achieve their financial goals. Hayley is also a Mum and Step Mum to three children aged between 11-16, and so she’s regularly thinking of ways to help her children financially in the future.

Linda Murray, Regional Manager, Santander - Linda has worked in banking for 35 years across a broad spectrum of areas including mortgages, risk and most recently face to face banking in Santander branches. At work, she’s particularly passionate about supporting customers to help them make informed choices about their banking. Linda is also a single mum to her 24 year old daughter, Charlotte. She’s looking to support Charlotte financially and emotionally when she buys her first home.

Do you have questions around saving for a deposit? Perhaps you’d like to know more about how your family could help? Or maybe you’re interested in knowing what to expect when buying a home. The experts will be back between 26 July and 6 August to answer some of the questions you have on preparing to buy your first home.

All who post a question (regardless of whether it is answered or not) will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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@Montydoo

I have no real credit history, no credit card, and I've not bought anything on HP to build one up, my and my OH have an annual salary of 65k and can afford a small terraced house comfortably - would the lack of a credit score affect our application - if so what would you recommend ?

@Montydoo

Most banks use a credit score rating to help decide whether they can lend you money. This shows how likely you are to be accepted for credit, the higher the score the more likely you are to be accepted for a credit application.

Your credit score is based on your credit report, which is created using information such as:

• information from the electoral register
• details of any court judgments or bankruptcies in your name
• a record of current and past credit commitments (for example, credit cards, loans, mortgages) that you’ve held in the last six years
• details of any searches on your credit file.

We'll also make credit checks with credit reference agencies to find out how you've managed credit before.

Affordability is a separate calculation and is not linked to your credit score but your income, expenditure, and credit commitments. You can find a host of calculators on our website to understand how much you are likely to be able to borrow based on your personal circumstances.

For tips on how to boost your credit score visit our website.

Graham

Thanks so much for all your questions. If you need any more information, we'd recommend visiting santander.co.uk where you'll find a wealth of tips and information including a home deposit calculator.

Thanks for all your questions.

The winner of the prize draw is @sunnymondays - congratulations!

Routine for my 14 month old (12 months corrected) is totally all over the place. He’s not been wanting morning nap but totally grumpy.

He’s been waking up about 8:30 each morning and still stirs twice at night 4pm wake up he wants a bottle about 5/6 ounces.

Bed time is a fight is ally bath latest 7 with down town 7:30/8 but he’s fighting sleep so sometimes or asleep till 9
Stuck as to what to do or what I should be working towards to fix his schedule

HELP

When the time comes, we hope to downsize and release some funds from our home to give to each of our children as a deposit.

What are the tax ramifications, and can the money we provide them be set aside in the event of a breakup with their partners?

There doesn't appear to be any loyalty between customers and Banks now days. Would you advise that existing customers come direct to you or go via and Independent Mortgage Broker, to get the most suitable mortgage product?

Where are the answers to these questions??

Qwerty thank you for your responses. Most helpful. Are you a financial advisor?

Hi all. Apols, but the Q&A has ended and it slipped our mind to close the thread. As it's an expert Q&A we'll also remove some of the responses following the close date. Unfortunately we can't vouch for any answers provided anonymously by members. It's better to start a new thread if you'd like responses from other MNers.