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Our property investment expert is Jeni Browne, Sales Director at
Mortgages for Business
www.mortgagesforbusiness.co.uk/
Tel: 0345 345 6788
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Question
Will my lender need my return from furlough date?
I am due to remortgage shortly and I am also on furlough. Will my lender be likely to need my return to work date in order to process the new loan? What will happen if I cannot supply this?
Answer
If you are going to take a new deal from your existing lender, then they will not need to underwrite you again and, as such, will not need to know this.
If you remortgage with a new lender, it’s unlikely they’ll use your usual non-furlough salary level in their affordability calculations, unless you are back to work and can show at least one payslip with the full income amount.
If that’s not possible, then they will use your furlough salary for their calculations which may impact the mortgage rates available to you.
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Question
Taking a mortgage holiday due to Lockdown 2.0
I work in the hospitality industry and am currently off work again thanks to Lockdown 2.0. With so much uncertainty around my return to work and whether or not my employer will even be able to survive this second closure I am looking at taking a mortgage holiday.
I didn’t take one last time as my partner and I had enough in savings to cover the shortfall. This time the savings are running out. So, what are my chances of getting a mortgage holiday this time, particularly considering I haven’t needed any help up until now?
Answer
Lenders are generally offering borrowers up to six months mortgage payment deferral. It’s still very much an open scheme, and thus, there is no reason why you would not be allowed to take one.
If you take a look at your mortgage lender’s website, there will be a form for you to complete requesting a payment deferral. I wish you luck with your job – this is such an incredibly worrying and challenging time for so many.
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Question
Divorce – what will happen to our mortgage?
My husband and I have decided to go our separate ways and I would like some advice on what to do with our mortgage, please?
We are both joint owners of the property on the deeds but my husband has made the majority of the payments. We have two children and we want to keep things as normal as possible for them so I will remain in our family home while my husband moves out.
The question is, can he keep paying for the mortgage but not live here? If this is not possible we may have to look at moving to two separate but smaller properties.
For your information, my husband is planning to move to a second home of his parents, which they currently let but will give to him until for the time being.
Answer
Your ex-husband can absolutely continue paying the mortgage even if he is not living there; either he can pay this via direct debit from his account, or he can transfer the money to you each month, and you make the payment to the lender.
I should point out that whilst you are both jointly named on the mortgage, you are still jointly liable for the debt and thus responsible for making sure the mortgage payment is made each month. If a payment is missed for any reason, this will show on both of your credit files.
While it’s great that you’ve been able to work out a solution for now, you will need to think about the long term. If your ex-husband does eventually wish to buy a new home, his being named on your mortgage could impact his affordability when it comes to taking out a new mortgage.
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Question
Buying our first property during a pandemic! Are we mad?
My girlfriend and I have been saving for several years to buy our own home and because our social lives have basically been put on hold during the pandemic we have been able to boost our pot quite substantially this year.
But while we feel we have a nice healthy deposit (15% of what we need to buy in our chosen area) we wondered whether we would be completely bonkers in taking this quite drastic step during these uncertain times?
The stamp duty holiday does not impact us because we will be first-time buyers so will be benefit from the support already in place before the pandemic. Also, we are worried we might be buying high for the market to crash when the recession hits! Help!!
Answer
Well, this is an excellent question. The housing market has gone into overdrive, so thousands of people seem to think now is the perfect time to buy; consequently, house prices have increased significantly so you would certainly be buying in a market which is running hot.
Whether house prices decrease remains to be seen. This will be impacted by many things which are not yet certain, such as the economy’s recovery and whether the stamp duty holiday is extended.
I believe there will be a softening of house prices as the market calms down, but I doubt it’ll be too significant.
As the stamp duty holiday will not benefit you, I’d say you don’t need to rush into anything.
However, if the right property does come up now, do jump in as I believe any dip in value this coming spring will recover by next autumn. Good luck!
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