I am 1.5 years in but nobody asked the end date and my supervisor didnt write it on the supporting letter

I know it's a well covered topic here and elsewhere but having found this site very useful when researching mortgages and houses etc. I thought i'd post my success story here. I am currently on a departmental bursary of ~£13k whilst doing my PhD and my girlfriend who has a real job earns £15k per year (after tax its about £12k) and we had a 10k deposit, we have just had the confirmation after the survey that Nawest will lend us £98K mortgage to buy our house.

We had alot of difficulty in getting lenders to accept my bursary as an income which was the main problem, Santander refused to let us even meet with the mortgage advisor. We also dealt with an independent mortgage advisor from countrywide who seemed willing to let it slide at first but we soon ran into difficulties. The problem with the bursary is people don't understand it and not all the lenders are willing to sit and listen to you explaining what it is and how it works. Natwest were very good at this because I already have an account with them and it was an Undergraduate/Graduate account, we also had a joint account with them so they were happy to talk.

What we needed in the end was a letter from the University (I used my supervisor) clearly stating I was in receipt of a PhD bursary from the University (for £13k) which was solely intended for my living expenses for uses such as mortgages. It was a guaranteed income and no tuition or course fees come out of it as these are paid for separately by the University. He also wrote a personal reference but as I understand this wasn't necessary.

We had alot of rejections and refusals with many being interested at first but then refusing in the end. The key is the letter, if you have this in place before you start your enquiries you shouldn't have too much trouble, just be persistent and don't worry about being refused - just go to the next place until you find a mortgage advisor willing to accept it