Young and Growing Families
We know that buying a home can be both an exciting and stressful time for young and growing families. We’re here to help make it as seamless as possible!
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Things young families are considering:
We can help you to remortgage to allow the release of funds to complete an extension or loft conversion, or perhaps you need help working out your maximum budget so you can plan your next home move. Contact us for your personalised calculations.
Some lenders will lend more than others. It’s our job to go through the different options to find you the best possible lending amount, to give you the best chance of getting in the area you want. Professional occupations get additional access with some lenders, key workers can get extra lending with certain lenders, and sometimes there might be housing schemes to help you to stay in a certain area. Contact us and we can help you to look through the options.
It is possible to get a mortgage while on maternity leave or parental leave. But your lender may ask to see more details on your income once you return to work.
Many lenders can still include your income as part of the affordability assessment, but they will need a few things to give them the confidence to do so. You will need a letter from work confirming that you have an agreed return to work date, and confirming if you will be returning on full time or part time hours, and the salary you have agreed. Many people returning to work after a new baby, do so on amended hours so this is the reason they need this.
The other point lenders will be very interested to know is your planned childcare arrangements, if you have family such as grandparents or friends who will be helping, or if there will be childcare fees you will need to manage moving forwards. If you have a number of months before your return to work, they may ask how you will manage the family finances until your return to work date.
With clear confirmation on the above most lenders can include your new return to work income when assessing your affordability for mortgages.
Any childcare costs will be included in your affordability checks with the lender so it’s important you make your adviser aware of these.
Lenders can also disregard those that are stopping too, so if your child will soon be eligible for full time school, or government funded preschool hours, or perhaps you have family or friends that will be able to help you instead, the lenders can consider this reduction in costs too.
This varies from lender to lender and can depend on the age of the child. Some lenders will consider some benefits and not others, and some will only consider a percentage of the benefits received. Speak to us directly to see which lenders would be best for you.
Again, this varies from lender to lender and can depend on the age of the child. Some lenders consider maintenance as long as it regularly shows on your bank statements, some require a court order or child maintenance order and some will only consider a percentage of the monies received. Speak to us directly to see which lenders would be best for you.
There are so many milestones you and your family will go through. When you are expecting your first or next child, when your child has their first day at school, or moves onto secondary school. Perhaps it’s you that has the exciting new work opportunity or a desire to try a new area, or move back to your roots. Perhaps you’ve outgrown your current home or have seen something you didn’t expect to come on the market and you just need to know if it’s possible.
Whatever the changes in your lives, Evergreen Mortgages wants to support you and help you every step of the way. Call us for a personalised one to one chat about the impact your situation could have on your home or mortgage, and how to make that best work for you and for your family.
I need to be in a particular area, but it’s a high value area.
Some lenders will lend more than others. It’s our job to go through the different options to find you the best possible lending amount to give you the best chance of getting in the area you want. Professional occupations get additional access with some lenders, key workers can get extra lending with certain lenders, and sometimes there might be housing schemes to help you to stay in a certain area. Contact us and we can help you to look through the options.
FAQs
A new mortgage is a time for you to ask yourselves some questions on your future plans. Your future plans will dictate what type of product you can choose and there are many different types of products available to you not just a two or five year fixed. Make sure when you speak with us, to discuss all those plans so we can guide you in the right direction. Contact us now to guide you through your choices.
If you are buying through a special scheme like the right to buy scheme and depending on your individual circumstances, it may be advisable to consider a longer term product so that you have security during the scheme’s pre-emptive period.
Fixed rates offer security for your future payments, but you can also consider variable and discounted rates too, which may offer more flexibility if you plan to move soon or are expecting changes in your circumstances.
Any specific advice about the type of rates, fixed or variable, and the length of product that you should take, should always be discussed with an advisor to take into account your personal circumstances.
Please contact us today to discuss your options.
We can provide you with a no obligation quotation for a solicitor, and we will make sure they are able to work with the lender you are taking your new mortgage with.
In most cases, you will need the help of a solicitor whether you are buying a new home or remortgaging. Your mortgage lender registers a charge against your property on the land registry and the deeds of your home. When you buy a new home or change lender, you need a solicitor to do this part of the process for you.
Your choice of solicitor can impact the length of time it takes for your remortgage to complete. We can help you with a recommended solicitor.
You should see the expiry date on your mortgage offer once it is issued, it varies from lender to lender, but it tends to be between three and six months. If you are buying a new build property some lenders provide an extended mortgage offer expiry date of up to 1 year. Lenders can potentially extend your mortgage offer if it becomes close to expiry, but this is case specific and lender specific, so to get in touch with us if you’re concerned about the need for an extension.
Stamp duty is charged when you purchase a new home, but is not applicable for most remortgages. Your solicitor will guide you on the exact amount you will need to pay as the fees vary based on if you are considered a first time buyer, next time buyer or if you own any other property. The charges also vary if you are buying using one of the government schemes. If you are looking for a guide on what you may need to pay, we can put you in touch with a solicitor who can help, or for a rough estimate, this link will take you to a simple online stamp duty calculator: Stamp Duty Calculator – Latest Updated Stamp Duty Calculations.
Solicitors complete searches on your behalf when you buy a new home and they will explain the different searches and provide reports to you on the results of these. They include searches on any upcoming planning permissions in the area local to your new home, flood risks, environmental searches, depending on your area you could have coal mining searches or other more specific searches run. Generally these cost between £300 – £500 and form part of the solicitors costs. They request payment of these searches upfront and they will form the downpayment on instruction of your solicitors to work for you. This initial payment is often non-refundable as it pays for the costs of the searches. We can provide you with a no obligation quotation for a solicitor, and we will make sure they are able to work with the lender you are taking your new mortgage with.
Surveys are normally completed by private companies on the property you wish to buy. In Scotland the survey or home buyers report is completed by the seller and forms part of the sales particulars for the property, but in England and Wales you will be expected to instruct your own survey.
The mortgage lender does complete a mortgage valuation for themselves, as they need to check the property is good security for the loan, but the lenders valuation is to ensure the home is built from common building materials and in reasonable condition. It provides the lender with a market valuation, a reinstatement cost for insurance purposes and it describes the construction and general condition of the property on the date of inspection. Some lenders complete the valuation free of charge, but you might not always be able to get a copy of the valuation that the lenders instruct.
A private survey gives you 3 options, Basic, Homebuyers survey or Full structural or building survey. As the name suggests, like the lender valuation above, the basic survey gives little information. Many people buying a second hand property will opt instead for a more detailed home buyer report which additionally provides a detailed report often in a traffic light style report to make it easy to read. Here is an example of what it may include:
- Aims to identify any problems that need urgent attention or are serious or that may be dangerous.
- Aims to identify things that need to be investigated further to prevent serious damage.
- Aims to advise on the amount of ongoing maintenance that may be required in the future and gives advice on the steps needed to investigate and/or repair/resolve any defects identified.
A full buildings survey is generally the most expensive type of survey so is often only instructed when buying a listed building or a property that you expect to require extensive work.
We can help you to get costings on any of these types of survey once you have the property address, so get in touch for a quote.
Lenders calculate your affordability based on your income and outgoings, so they consider your basic salary, any commission or overtime etc, and they also consider any current financial commitments, any children, or adult dependents in your care. We can help you to work out the maximum you can borrow based on lenders calculations, However a more important consideration is what you feel is affordable.
Write out on a blank piece of paper what you have coming into your household each month and your current outgoings. This could be car payments, loans, credit cards, mail orders or your mobile bill etc.
Then consider your new expected bills: house, insurance and personal insurance, gas and electric, council tax, water, Internet connection, your food bills etc.
Finally, consider what you feel you can comfortably afford per month to pay towards your mortgage. Lenders assess affordability differently to this, but it’s very important that you feel comfortable with your new payments moving forward.
