Hi folks,
Has anyone on here tried to get a mortgage as couple of PhD students or one student/one working person? I can't find anything about it online apart from undergrad ones where you need your parents as a guarantor. Does anyone know of any helpful websites, or know if a stipend counts towards how much you can borrow? Thanks.

It may be possible to get a self-certified mortgage where you don't have to prove your income. But the interests rates tend to be a bit higher and you need at least 10% deposit. I'm toying with this idea myself. Just googled and found this on the web:

http://www.mwgb.co.uk/self_cert_mortgages.html

most wont taken into account a stipend, however when i enquired Northern Rock would with a small deposit.

Not heard of self-certification, thanks Sylvester. We will probably have between 5 and 10% deposit (more like 5 realistically) for the type of place we're looking for, i'll investigate Northern Rock further too. It is quite frustrating; when I start my phd my stipend will be the same as my salary after tax now, and in some ways it is a more stable source of income as I will be receiving it every month for 3 years (unless they chuck me out ) but it makes things much more difficult.

This question has come up before - might be worth using the search function on this website to see what was said before.

when we went to Northern Rock we were directed to a specific team member as he had dealt with it before, as the process is apparently different. if it was to be approved life insurance was needed.

life insurance! crikey, do they think there is a chance your supervisor might kill you?

hehe, i think more you bump off your partner and steal the house! though you never can tell with some supervisors...

Life insurance is one of these bolt-on policies that they like to push so they can make more money out of you. Unfortunately, some require it as a condition of the mortgage, but alot don't. Your best bet is to see a mortgage advisor as they are good at handling lenders and they are normally paid commission by the eventual lender. Just enquire as to whether they are independent or whether they represent a panel of lenders.

Your question is very pertinent as I had this conversation with my solicitor yesterday and she suggested to get a good mortgage advisor as they can be good at getting you an offer.

My working partner and I bought a flat together last year. When we were looking for a mortgage we went to an independent mortgage advisor who couldn't find a lender that would acknowledge my stipend as income. I have a Nationwide mortgage which was arranged on an affordability basis (i.e. takes into account all money coming in and going out to work out how big a mortgage you can afford). However, my Dad has had to act as guarantor. Good Luck x

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess these things depend on who you go to. I did want to do it without having to ask either of our families to be guarantors (being a responsible adult n'all) but we're lucky we have the option there if we need it.

Some previous threads that may be useful

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=5093

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=4705

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=3765

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=3686

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=3165

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=1974

Hi Laura - the simple answer is yes, it it possible. While I was studying and my husbnand was working we bought out house. Weapplied to Halifax and they would have taken the stipend into account with a full letter of confirmation from the university research registrar stating that I was in receipt of the funds. As it happened, Halifax took so long to process the form that my funding ran out and I got a job anyway, so the mortgage ended up being based on that. (Hmmm, I could say lots about Halifax, but will refrain from doing so at the moment! ) However, they WERE prepared to take the research money into account.

I do know someone who applied for a mortgage with a PhD stipend on her own. This was back in the days when house prices were reasonable. The bottom line is, some lenders will not just reject it on the principle of it being a stipend - they will assess it as they would a "conventional" income.

My H2B and I bought a house together last year, we used an IFA who went to Northern Rock and they agreed to use my stipend as an income, We managed to get quite a good deal as well! Did help that H2B had a decent income himself.

I have just mangaed to buy with my partner. My partner works and they took my stipend into account. That was with the HSBC everyone else said no to me. However it varies from branch to branch.