Mortgage possibility on a low income?

[K50 DEL]

So I know we have a few mortgage gurus who post on PH (Sarnie?)

Since her divorce a few years ago my 38yr old sister has been living in a rented house, paying £625 a month + the usual bills.

With the onset of time, the landlady is becoming more and more unwilling to do basic maintenance, culminating in my sister having no shower for a couple of months now and (until I sorted the thermostat) no heating or hot water either.... so:

I started idly wondering whether she would be able to get a mortgage.....

She has two jobs, one full time on £18,500 a year and one part time with a minimum hours contract valued at about £6,000 a year.
No debt, loans or HP but no savings either so family would have to help out initially I imagine, though that wouldn't be much.

Property prices in the local area she would need to live (she doesn't drive, so needs to be within walking distance of work) mean that £120k purchase price is a bare minimum.

What does the collective think? - doable?

[K50 DEL]

Sarnie said:

Can she get a mortgage? Yes.

Deposit is key though.......

It's probably good that things have changed but I bought my first house with a 100% mortgage (in fact it was 105% IIRC) was a huge help to me to get that mortgage and I wouldn't be a homeowner now without it!

So... that said, what's the minimum possible deposit she'd need?

[K50 DEL]

Killer2005 said:

How long as she had the second job? Would need at least 2 years before some lenders would use it.

First job for about 11 years. second job for coming up to 3 so hopefully that should be fine... she actually always does far more than the contracted minimum as well, so could probably get them to do a new contract with a higher minimum on it if needed.

[K50 DEL]

Sarnie said:

K50 DEL said:

It's probably good that things have changed but I bought my first house with a 100% mortgage (in fact it was 105% IIRC) was a huge help to me to get that mortgage and I wouldn't be a homeowner now without it!

So... that said, what's the minimum possible deposit she'd need?

5% and she's in the game...............

So on a £130k purchase that's £6.5k - that's doable - good news!

[K50 DEL]

was8v said:

Thats not a low income!

Anyway if you have the cash why not lend her some to get into a lower rate, and then have her repay you with the saving.

I'd agree, except that when trying to buy a property it is a low income... certainly in this area where properties are not particularly cheap.... how people at this end of the earning scale in London manage I'll never know!

Cash wise that's what we'll proabably end up doing, but she would prefer to do it by herself if she can so exploring that route first.
All told, the family could probably only get together £15k max anyway, so it's not going to make a vast difference!

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Absolutely, the costs involved are one of the reasons why we'd prefer to keep some of the family pot back rather than adding it to the deposit...

bazza white said:

Most i could get with 24k (base rate no additions included) was 115k with a 55k deposit on top. Id pick a decent MA like sarnie to see what he can sort.

Good luck to her ive just scraped onto the ladder even with decent deposit so i sympathise.

It's a long time (and a very different market) from when I was a 1st time buyer but I can't believe how tough it is... crazy really, her mortgage payments will be less than the rent, yet she's still going to struggle to buy somewhere, it makes no sense to me!


As you say, hopefully Sarnie will be able to provide a more definitive answer... what do we need to do to move that request forward?