Buying a house (and renting)

Moggy wrote:

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:Went for a flat viewing today as I am looking to get my first mortgage and in London too but there is a leasehold of 120 years...i need to google about this more to see if it is worth it

120 years is fine, the lease will outlast you and anybody that might buy it off of you in the future.

Most lenders what the leasse to be the mortgage term plus x for most I understand it to be around 50 so its something to be mindful of as the shorter the lease gets the more expensive it can be to extend it.

Also the ground rent and service charges will be used for affordability and a lot of service charges can go up linked to RPI which is around 3% a year.

Freehold or bust. Don't bother with leaseholds.

Drumstick wrote:Freehold or bust. Don't bother with leaseholds.

I agree with that, but I doubt he has much choice in London.

120 year lease is very good.

I think anything less than 50 you stay away from

Thanks! I'm getting a joint mortgage with my sister as I wouldn't be able to afford anything decent in London on my own. I am a first time buyer but she's not.
Ok good to know that the 120 years leasehold is not an issue

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:Thanks! I'm getting a joint mortgage with my sister as I wouldn't be able to afford anything decent in London on my own. I am a first time buyer but she's not.
Ok good to know that the 120 years leasehold is not an issue

I would check the ground rent and service charges if you want to know what they are you can spend a few £'s on the Land Registry to see what you would be looking at.

If you need any help let me know.

Slayerx wrote:

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:Thanks! I'm getting a joint mortgage with my sister as I wouldn't be able to afford anything decent in London on my own. I am a first time buyer but she's not.
Ok good to know that the 120 years leasehold is not an issue

I would check the ground rent and service charges if you want to know what they are you can spend a few £'s on the Land Registry to see what you would be looking at.

If you need any help let me know.

Hey thanks!
Its an ex council flat but I dont know if the entire block is private or not. My sister's financial advisor said he will check.
On the brochure it says service charge is £750 per annum and ground rent is £10 per annum. £10 seems like nothing

I don't know if it's different in London, but I'd be slightly wary of that lease. My understanding is that as soon as it goes under 100 years it starts to damage the value. It shouldn't really, like Moggy says it will comfortably outlast several owners, but that's the impression I had when I was in the market for a flat.

Pretty sure the vast majority of city flats (i.e. those in big blocks) will be leasehold.

Also make sure you check the lease contract specifically to find out how/if the service charge will be allowed to increase over time.

BID0 wrote:

Bunni wrote:The lovely flat I seen sold as expected.

Been offered a low amount due to the nature of my work and that they don’t take total income into account (I’ve worked two jobs for the past year) I don’t want to settle, but waiting two years for a permanent contract at my new job is a chore, though I’ll be offered a lot more at that time. Frustrating knowing that I worked so hard but it doesn’t get me as far as it should because my contract doesn’t say permanent.

Some banks just use 3 months of your wage slips/proof of earnings so that might help you get around the 2 years thing

I’ve got to bring in a year worth of wage slips (I get paid weekly ffs ) to get this far, and there’s limited lenders who are willing to deal with my contract, so unfortunately three months wageslips won’t cut it.

Bunni wrote:

BID0 wrote:

Bunni wrote:The lovely flat I seen sold as expected.

Been offered a low amount due to the nature of my work and that they don’t take total income into account (I’ve worked two jobs for the past year) I don’t want to settle, but waiting two years for a permanent contract at my new job is a chore, though I’ll be offered a lot more at that time. Frustrating knowing that I worked so hard but it doesn’t get me as far as it should because my contract doesn’t say permanent.

Some banks just use 3 months of your wage slips/proof of earnings so that might help you get around the 2 years thing

I’ve got to bring in a year worth of wage slips (I get paid weekly ffs ) to get this far, and there’s limited lenders who are willing to deal with my contract, so unfortunately three months wageslips won’t cut it.

Ah that sucks. I went with Halifax who could work with 3 months slips rather than 2 years worth. I could have done 2 years but my bonuses and overtime worked out better using my recent 3 months at the time

It depends on your contract situation, Bunni, are you on a zero hours contract?

At the moment yeah, then going to a 3 month rolling contract, alongside (soon to be less) hours on this one.

Does anyone here currently renting a room out? Like making use of that rent a room relief where you can earn up to £7,500 a year before being taxed?

I'm looking at buying a place with my fiancée and we're trying to work out the feasibility of a freehold flat - does such a thing even exist?

Bunni wrote:

BID0 wrote:

Bunni wrote:The lovely flat I seen sold as expected.

Been offered a low amount due to the nature of my work and that they don’t take total income into account (I’ve worked two jobs for the past year) I don’t want to settle, but waiting two years for a permanent contract at my new job is a chore, though I’ll be offered a lot more at that time. Frustrating knowing that I worked so hard but it doesn’t get me as far as it should because my contract doesn’t say permanent.

Some banks just use 3 months of your wage slips/proof of earnings so that might help you get around the 2 years thing

I’ve got to bring in a year worth of wage slips (I get paid weekly ffs ) to get this far, and there’s limited lenders who are willing to deal with my contract, so unfortunately three months wageslips won’t cut it.

Find yourself an independent mortgage broker. They'll sort you out a mortgage, and get you a better deal.

It was independent. But I’ve got my start date for my new jobs so I’m just gunna wait it out. I don’t want to settle borrowing just enough for a mediocre flat, when I can wait a year or two, save up more deposit and hopefully be offered more which would buy something more what I’m after.

So my solicitors say that they're just waiting for the response to the enquiries then as long as the rest of the deposit money comes through (should be tomorrow I hope!) then I should be able to exchange very soon/complete soon after.

Bunni wrote:It was independent. But I’ve got my start date for my new jobs so I’m just gunna wait it out. I don’t want to settle borrowing just enough for a mediocre flat, when I can wait a year or two, save up more deposit and hopefully be offered more which would buy something more what I’m after.

I'd look around for a different one. There's a massive difference between the best and the worst. I'd be looking at ringing a few financial advisers and getting some names of recommended mortgage brokers. I'd avoid anyone linked to a building society or bank or estate agent. They tend to be the worst.

It was a whole market advisor I went to, they showed my hundreds of brokers and banks and such, and highlighted the few that accept my working contracts. I’m not desperate to buy, if a good deal came up I would run with it but my visit confirmed what I expected, that nobody wants to lend a decent multiple of my annual income because it’s not documented as a permanent salary. I can wait it out happily, my landlord is excellent and my flat is nice. I’d rather get a better deal down the line when my work becomes ‘permanent contract’ which should be in a year or two.