Frequently asked questions about our mortgage products

It’s possible yes and would depend on your income affordability, outgoings and the term you want to repay the mortgage over. You'll need a deposit of at least 5% of the property value and you’d need to go through a mortgage advice process to establish what type of products are available, the monthly mortgage payments and costs including valuation, legal fees and stamp duty.

Products are available specifically for first time buyers with small deposits and these sometimes include help with some of the costs involved and low fees. The interest rate on loans with smaller deposits will be higher than for other loans.

One way to reduce the cost is through mortgages (such as our Family Mortgage) that allow other family members to provide extra security, either through a charge over their own property or their savings. This can reduce the interest rate and offsetting savings family members can also help reduce the monthly payment.

You may wish to consider an offset mortgage. Offset mortgages allow you to keep a pot of money alongside your mortgage account which you can withdraw from when you need to pay your tax bill.

The advantage over a normal savings account is that you won’t be charged interest on the part of your mortgage equivalent of the amount you have in your savings pot. You won’t receive any interest on the money in the savings pot but you’re saving interest at the rate on the mortgage, which is usually higher than you’d earn on a savings account.

The other advantage of having an offset account is that you do not pay tax on the interest saved by the offset funds.

Offset funds can normally be used to either reduce your mortgage term overall or reduce your monthly mortgage payment. It really depends on the lender and the choices they offer.

Yes you can. Perhaps even longer if you want. See our range of later life mortgages here.

There has been a lot of comment in the press recently about 50 something’s finding it challenging to get a mortgage that extends into what used to be considered to be “normal retirement age”.

We’re living longer and therefore working longer, it’s as simple as that, so more and more people don’t fit into that “normal” group.

Many high street lenders will restrict the maximum age at which they allow the mortgage term to run to, typically to between 70 and 75.

However, some lenders, such as us, will take a more common sense approach.

Earned income can in some cases be accepted up until age 70, alongside income from pensions; investment property and savings which can all be taken into consideration. Providing you meet the lenders criteria there is no reason why you cannot obtain a mortgage until or even beyond the age of your retirement.

What is most important is to check that the mortgage remains affordable after you retire and draw your pension income.

The short answer to that is maybe.

It would depend on several factors. The lender may have relied on both your incomes in giving you the mortgage. The lender would need to establish your income, outgoings and the term you want to repay the mortgage over.

Providing you can afford the mortgage on your own and meet the lenders underwriting criteria then there is no reason why you would not be considered.

Another thing lenders would also take into consideration is your credit history. If you have missed any payments, made late payments or taken payday loans this may restrict your choice of lenders; or may mean you cannot obtain a mortgage.

If you are splitting the equity (the difference between the property value and the mortgage amount) and one person is buying the other out, then because you have less equity than before you may find that the interest rate on the new loan is higher than before.

It always pays to look around. A new product may even have a period where the interest rate charged is lower for a few years.

This can keep payments low while you get back on your feet and might help with something like you having somewhere to sit in your home!

We pride ourselves on our flexibility and individual approach to our underwriting. However, there are a few occasions when it’s not possible to consider an applicant:

• Repayment of tax or gambling debts
• Borrowers who have impaired credit
• Borrowers who have utilised ‘payday’ lenders
• Borrowers seeking to consolidate over five credit cards
• Borrowers seeking to consolidate debts accumulated with sub-prime or non-mainstream mortgage lenders or non-mainstream credit card providers
• Borrowers seeking to raise capital for debt consolidation for more than 20% of the property value, or where the main purpose of the loan is debt consolidation i.e. where more than 49% of the monies being raised are to consolidate existing debts.

Our Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP) arrangement allows one or two borrowers (who will own and occupy the property)  and up to two other family members to support the borrower(s) by using up to four incomes for affordability. Our JBSP arrangement means that borrower(s) can call upon the support of their parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles or, in the case of older members of the family, adult children can support their parents if their circumstances change. To find our more click here.

Our Family Mortgage caters for borrowers with lower deposits. Subject to a minimum deposit of 5%, family members can then provide additional security for the borrower’s mortgage, either in the form of a charge over their own property or their savings. The deposit plus security provided by family members needs to total 25% of the mortgaged property value. To find out more click here.