Mortgage eligibility

Hiya everyone,

Hope you’re having a nice weekend!

My husband and I are just brainstorming here and in the market for property. Thing is, we are in a position now to where we’ve saved enough money to be able to afford a 10% down payment on a house.

We’d much prefer to buy a house than rent!

In anyone’s past experience, would this be possible for us to do? My husband is a UK citizen, but I’m only on my Spouse visa and don’t apply for my FLR until early 2021.

Thank youuu!


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Contact a mortgage broker in your area and speak with them.  They’ll let you know if you are eligible for anything.

Contact a mortgage broker in your area and speak with them.  They’ll let you know if you are eligible for anything.

I agree with KFdancer. When I first arrived with my spouse visa, a mortgage advisor found us a mortgage that accepted my visa terms. We got a mortgage under both our names. I needed to have UK credit, so a few months before applying for the mortgage I got a Barclaycard credit cars, used it tons (groceries and gas... Things I was gonna spend money on anyway) and paid it off every month. Also, I needed to have a job for six months. So we applied 7 months after I started my job over here. This was back in 2014.

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That gives us sooo much hope! If you don’t mind me asking... did you pay an extremely high interest rate because you were on a spouse visa?

We’ve got plans to talk to a financial advisor about the whole thing, but before we talk to them I’d definitely want to establish some UK credit because right now I’ve got 0.

Thank you both for your help and sharing your personal experiences with me.


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We got a 4.5% interest rate, which is quite high for the average. However we expected it because of me barely having got off a plane, brand new job and credit, etc. We have remortgaged, as we got a 3 year fixed rate, and moved to another fixed rate. Now our interest rate is 1%. This was with my further leave to remain. I expect to get something just as good with my ILR, as I'm established and will have 6+ years of UK credit.

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We were on a higher rate before I got ILR.  When I got that, our monthly payment dropped by £500!  The rate will be higher due to you not having ILR, but shouldn’t be insanely high.

Lots of things affect the rate, loan to mortgage ratio, credit score, employment length, outgoings, etc. 

So, when you bought, how much of a downpayment were you expected to do?  Because of my age, and the length of mortgage I can get (based on age), I'd have to pony up a pretty hefty downpayment. Is there a more "typical" downpayment, as there is in the States?

So, when you bought, how much of a downpayment were you expected to do?  Because of my age, and the length of mortgage I can get (based on age), I'd have to pony up a pretty hefty downpayment. Is there a more "typical" downpayment, as there is in the States?

I honestly don't know if there's a typical down-payment, like in the US. In my situation, my husband owned his house when I met him. We lived there until I had enough credit and had worked long enough to be named on a mortgage. We sold his house and used that as a down-payment for the house we bought together, which covered a significant amount thankfully. From random chats I've had with coworkers, it seems like people save up to 30% as down-payment.

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From random chats I've had with coworkers, it seems like people save up to 30% as down-payment.

I think it depends a lot on your circumstances and where you live.

I was able to put down a 15% deposit on a house in one of the cheapest areas of the country... and I thought that was a large deposit (it would only have been about a 5-10% deposit on a house down south). The only reason I could afford that much was because I'd spent 12 months between 2013 and 2016 working up to 70 hours a week overseas, earning overtime, having no living expenses, and saving almost all my salary.

Many first-time buyers can't even afford a 5% deposit, let alone anywhere near 30%, and a lot of people may never be able to afford a house.

My brother and his fiance have just bought a house, but they only have 50% ownership (so they pay mortgage AND rent) and even then they only managed a few % for the deposit (and that was with a large chunk of savings earned working abroad).

I agree Ksand24. It definitely depends on circumstances and area where my you live.

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Hi guys!

We have a few appointments booked to talk to some banks and mortgage advisors in our area (inverness). For the past few months (and for the next few years), I’ve been paying student loan payments to my bank account in America via transferwise. Do I need to disclose this with the advisors/do I need to disclose this amount with the mortgage advisors?
The amount ranges from £200 - £450 every month that I send to transferwise, which then gets sent to my American bank account where the loans autodraft the payment. On our HSBC UK bank statement, it just says “transferwise,” And there is no evidence of any loan in America.

What should we do???


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Hi guys!

We have a few appointments booked to talk to some banks and mortgage advisors in our area (inverness). For the past few months (and for the next few years), I’ve been paying student loan payments to my bank account in America via transferwise. Do I need to disclose this with the advisors/do I need to disclose this amount with the mortgage advisors?
The amount ranges from £200 - £450 every month that I send to transferwise, which then gets sent to my American bank account where the loans autodraft the payment. On our HSBC UK bank statement, it just says “transferwise,” And there is no evidence of any loan in America.

What should we do???

They'll likely ask you for your last 3 months bank statements, and when they see that amount going out every month, they will ask what it's for.
I guess it's your choice whether or not you're honest with them... but if you decide not to mention the loan, you'll probably have to come up with a lie as to what the money is going out for.

Yeah, they will look at your bank statements, so worth explaining. Not uncommon to have student loans, but just more interested in making sure you can afford the mortgage. 

Also, welcome to the area mrsstealyotaco. If you're on Facebook, be sure and join the 'North Americans in Inverness' group.  It's not too active, but nice to know that there are a few American folks around too :-)

Hi guys!

We have a few appointments booked to talk to some banks and mortgage advisors in our area (inverness). For the past few months (and for the next few years), I’ve been paying student loan payments to my bank account in America via transferwise. Do I need to disclose this with the advisors/do I need to disclose this amount with the mortgage advisors?
The amount ranges from £200 - £450 every month that I send to transferwise, which then gets sent to my American bank account where the loans autodraft the payment. On our HSBC UK bank statement, it just says “transferwise,” And there is no evidence of any loan in America.

What should we do???

Tell the truth.    You wouldn't be doing yourselves any favours by overextending, if you got more of a mortgage than you could comfortably afford to repay.

You mentioned you're on your first spousal visa but how long have you been here so far? Asking as I found the more years I was here, the more companies would consider me for a mortgage. DEFINITELY work with an adviser as already suggested (and seems like you've already booked in to do). We did and it made things so much easier as he had relationships with some of these businesses so could phone them up to explain circumstances that didn't easily get ticked off on the form.

It's definitely not impossible by any means, but do note that it will likely be higher rates for the majority of companies that will rent to you. If it helps ease your worry, I moved here in October of 2013 and my husband and I bought the house we're in now February of 2016 (I believe it was) so less than 3 years after having moved to the country - and that was only when we officially completed on the house and got the keys.