buy a house / build a house
Discussion
We are a young couple living in Surrey and thoroughly confused about what to do next regarding getting on the property ladder.
We would love to do a self build but finding land in Surrey/West Sussex is proving extremely difficult, let alone getting planning permission and funding the build.
I have spoken to a self build mortgage provider and we can borrow 4 times our income with a 10% deposit. This self build mortgage covers the cost of the land and the actual build with advanced staged payments, but they will only lend on land with detailed planning permission, and getting that without already owning the land isn't exactly clear-cut.
If the self build dream is not feasible we have been looking into getting a conventional mortgage and we have been given a Decision in Principle by two different banks, one for £225k, one for £270k. The reason for the huge difference is because one takes into consideration my overtime and my partners commission and the other lender doesn't.
Property prices around here are crazy and the idea of borrowing the amount we need for a 2 bed house in an area we'd be comfortable living in is quite scary to say the least. Then you have the potential for a correction after the election and the inevitable interest rate rises and the whole situation leaves us very, very confused about what to do next and when.
So PH wisdom is needed. What do you lot think we should do?
For some basic info:
Me - £37k basic, £54k with overtime (2 years worth of evidence showing consistent earnings)
The gf - £12k basic, £22k with commission, bonus, etc. (1 years evidence of consistent earnings)
£20k savings so far, adding £1.5k to that every month.
Currently living near Gatwick (where the gf works) and I work in Woking, so looking for somewhere between the two, but also looking further back towards Kent (where we are both from and have friends/parents based there) and also as far south as Horsham, purely because we are priced out of the areas we would like to be.
Property we are looking at is around £250-280k for a two bed house, but even they are hard to find as the agents have BTL cash buyers waiting so nothing decent even makes it to the market!
We would love to do a self build but finding land in Surrey/West Sussex is proving extremely difficult, let alone getting planning permission and funding the build.
I have spoken to a self build mortgage provider and we can borrow 4 times our income with a 10% deposit. This self build mortgage covers the cost of the land and the actual build with advanced staged payments, but they will only lend on land with detailed planning permission, and getting that without already owning the land isn't exactly clear-cut.
If the self build dream is not feasible we have been looking into getting a conventional mortgage and we have been given a Decision in Principle by two different banks, one for £225k, one for £270k. The reason for the huge difference is because one takes into consideration my overtime and my partners commission and the other lender doesn't.
Property prices around here are crazy and the idea of borrowing the amount we need for a 2 bed house in an area we'd be comfortable living in is quite scary to say the least. Then you have the potential for a correction after the election and the inevitable interest rate rises and the whole situation leaves us very, very confused about what to do next and when.
So PH wisdom is needed. What do you lot think we should do?
For some basic info:
Me - £37k basic, £54k with overtime (2 years worth of evidence showing consistent earnings)
The gf - £12k basic, £22k with commission, bonus, etc. (1 years evidence of consistent earnings)
£20k savings so far, adding £1.5k to that every month.
Currently living near Gatwick (where the gf works) and I work in Woking, so looking for somewhere between the two, but also looking further back towards Kent (where we are both from and have friends/parents based there) and also as far south as Horsham, purely because we are priced out of the areas we would like to be.
Property we are looking at is around £250-280k for a two bed house, but even they are hard to find as the agents have BTL cash buyers waiting so nothing decent even makes it to the market!
Edited by dazm on Thursday 9th April 10:32
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