16th July 2007, 02:38 PM
I got my first mortgage just over two years ago on £15.5k (perm. contract) and was able to borrow £74k. I had £3.5k to bring as a deposit. I realise that house prices have gone up since then. My husband was discounted from the equation as his income was irregular and his overdraft was large.
I found lots of places would only do the standard 3x salary thing to start with. The key was to get past the initial person on the desk to talk to a specialist advisor. You then had a chance to convince them that whilst your income wasn't much you could patently save/manage that money. Also if you can demonstrate that you've had almost complete employment despite temporary contracts then that should work in your advantage. You can also make noises about taking out mortgage payment protection insurance so should you end up out of work it would cover the payments for a while (although if you do take it shop around for a good deal).
My mortgage is with a high street bank and is specifically designed for first time buyers - the first three years are interest only and then it reverts to a repayment mortgage. Basically that means that you pay less the first three years and then a slightly higher repayment the remaining twenty-ish. It has the advantage that by the time the higher payment kicks in you should have seen some promotion/payrise.
It may not be feasible but another option is to see if someone will guarantee the mortgage on your behalf (e.g. parent or sibling).
I found lots of places would only do the standard 3x salary thing to start with. The key was to get past the initial person on the desk to talk to a specialist advisor. You then had a chance to convince them that whilst your income wasn't much you could patently save/manage that money. Also if you can demonstrate that you've had almost complete employment despite temporary contracts then that should work in your advantage. You can also make noises about taking out mortgage payment protection insurance so should you end up out of work it would cover the payments for a while (although if you do take it shop around for a good deal).
My mortgage is with a high street bank and is specifically designed for first time buyers - the first three years are interest only and then it reverts to a repayment mortgage. Basically that means that you pay less the first three years and then a slightly higher repayment the remaining twenty-ish. It has the advantage that by the time the higher payment kicks in you should have seen some promotion/payrise.
It may not be feasible but another option is to see if someone will guarantee the mortgage on your behalf (e.g. parent or sibling).