not sure if this is the right section for it, but: i'm a uk citizen, my wife is on a uk spouse visa from the philippines. we're wanting to buy the place we currently rent, but i'm trying to get a handle on how hard it'll be to purchase. she's been in the uk for a year and a bit on her first 2.5 year initial entry. we both work, but i'm assuming it might be tricky to get her on a mortgage. if that's the case, will they only take my income into consideration or will they look at both but only put it in my name? i earn enough to do the mortgage application solo (i think), but i'd like for both of us to be on there if possible. thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
I was in the same situation, they won't take into account your partners earnings, you've likely got to go solo Check around though, things might have changed. Different banks have different rules
lloyds bank told us--they would consider her after a year. worth a chat. mortgages should be easy nowadays--interest rates rock bottom--shop around---let them chase you.
I think you need to be in the UK living at the same address for two years to get on the credit rating list.
she's on a joint account with me at barclays if that helps, but i haven't had a chance to call them about their deals yet. i'm not convinced her having an account with me / them will swing it, but we'll see. there's always brokers and going solo if all else fails!
We couldn't put my wife on the mortgage or have her salary taken into account because she hadn't been here 2 years.
Yes, after two years they will have built up a bit of a credit history, then they can have a little financial independence so to speak. I got my wife an additional credit card on my account when she first came to the UK then took it off her when she got it because we shared my high credit limit which I didn't like . I thought I could impose my own limit on her card but I couldn't, it wasn't the credit limit that bothered me it was the thought she could lose the card, my excuse anyway.
I think a good way of finding out whether or not your loved one can apply for credit is to try and sign up to Noddle (free) credit rating website, if they can sign up then it is probably true to say they can apply for credit at any of the banks/financial institutions.
in our case--she already had a lloyds current a/ c--and a Cc when i met her--she added me to her a/c !! that was before she went back!! i have my own nationwide current, savings--and tax free isa thing---but they wouldnt add her to it...lol---looking after my best interest maybe. but thats about the only interest it earns. i learnt years ago--if you have a bit of collateral--you can get a mortgage---ive had several. i never had a proper job when i applied for any of them. so long as theres plenty of equity in the property.
as long as we get the property we're happy with anything really. my big concern was that if i have to do a solo application i wouldn't be affected in terms of how much i can borrow due to still having my name on the mortgage i took out with my ex many years ago (she doesn't earn enough to have her name on it only but she can afford to pay it, so she pays the mortgage and i give her child support - its highly unlikely i'll ever be able to get my name removed). it'd be a right pain if we got turned down due to that...
Now I understand your concern, it may be the case (if you apply by yourself) that you will have to set your sights lower than if you were applying as a couple. If I was you I would make a few inquirers starting with your own bank or building society.
I'll be perfectly honest, I wouldn't dream of having a joint bank account, I don't like anyone knowing what I'm doing with my money, not a trust issue or anything like that, I just don't see the point. The missus just gives me a set amount of money each month and that is that, I don't have a clue about the wife's finances and vice versa. I will be buying another house either later this year or early next year and I have no intention of putting my wife on any of the related paperwork/deeds, again not a trust issue, I don't see the point as she will get the house if I pop my clogs.
yeah, some lenders really cut it close with the quotes depending on the info i give for the "old" mortgage, but most of the calculators for others such as santander and nationwide offer up crazy amount of cash on their basic quote things (way in advance of what we need!) so hopefully it won't cause a problem.
A bit of a tricky one really, any chance of postponing the purchase until you can have your wife on the paperwork?
sadly not as the landlord is putting it up for sale and has given us first crack at it. santander's web quote takes into account outgoings tied to things like currently held mortgages and was still offering me somewhere in the region of 150-180,000 odd for a solo application which is close to a good 40,000+ more than what we actually require. giving them a ring in the morning and will see what they say, cross some fingers for me
we did our initial 6 months so now it's just "rolling", as it were. we phoned a few banks up and oh boy. barclays wanted one of us to have a minimum salary of 75,000, whether she was on the policy or not. others said they'd let her on if she'd been in the UK for at least a year - "oh good!" (me) - but only if she had permanent residence. me: you can't get permanent residence in a year, so your policy requirement is literally a nonsense them: oh the above wouldn't let us have a quote in my name only, because she'd be "contributing" to the mortgage. ie - we have a shared bank account, so there's no way to "prove" what bits of whose wage are going towards the payments. how utterly stupid is that? anyway, things seem promising with another lender, who are open to it, as long as we give a bigger deposit than normal for security - it seems they'll also allow her to be on the policy if we do that, so that's hopefully a result. we have a follow up call next week, hope this info helps for anyone else in the same situation!
