Reply to: First Time Buyer Mortgages with a £5,000 deposit

[courtg9000]

had a bit of a giggle reading this thread.
But .....
I have been moved to do a small kindness for the OP.
TheMortgageSquad
Something for your bedtime reading and for prominence on your bookshelf, Sir.
I suspect posting deals like this in a place such as this, is not in it!
The Financial Services Marketing Handbook Tactics 9781118065716 | eBay

[TheMortgageSquad]

Just out of interest, the definition of a FTB is someone who has never owned a home before. How is that evidenced? Is there a register somewhere? I haven't owned property for 10 years and I know others who bought but then sold up to live in rented for various reasons and have been out of the market for far longer.

Ok, so FTB status is a thing that the mortgage company may / may not have a time limit on and for HMRC it is very much black and white.

Not planning on buying anything any time soon but it's always something that's bugged me as it seems that one transaction decades ago, or an inheritance, has a huge impact further down the line.

Yes, that's correct. It is very black and white with HMRC but less so with some mortgage lenders.

I do agree that there are certain situations where it seems a little unfair for stamp duty to be charged, inheritance of properties being one of them.

[ladymuck]

Ok, so FTB status is a thing that the mortgage company may / may not have a time limit on and for HMRC it is very much black and white.

Not planning on buying anything any time soon but it's always something that's bugged me as it seems that one transaction decades ago, or an inheritance, has a huge impact further down the line.

[TheMortgageSquad]

Just out of interest, the definition of a FTB is someone who has never owned a home before. How is that evidenced? Is there a register somewhere? I haven't owned property for 10 years and I know others who bought but then sold up to live in rented for various reasons and have been out of the market for far longer.

Good guide on what it is and isn't and also some interesting stuff about couples with partners that have bought before etc. Also mentions about long times between mortgages and how some products will call you a FTB but others won't.
https://www.tembomoney.com/learn/fir...ond-time-buyer

This is correct. What muddies the water is that some lenders define a client as a first time buyer if they have not owned a property in the last 2 years for mortgage purposes but this is not the view shared by HMRC as far as stamp duty purposes go, as if you have ever owned a property before, anywhere in the world then you are not classed as a first time buyer for stamp duty tax purposes.

With the £5k deposit mortgage, only one applicant needs to be a first time buyer so if you have a scenario where two people are buying together, one being a first time buyer and the other having previously owned, then that is fine, you can get that mortgage.

To my knowledge (although a conveyancing solicitor may be able to correct me if I am wrong on this point) there is not a 'register' which Solicitors have access to that is checked each time someone purchases a property to determine whether the applicants have owned a property before or not. It is the responsibility of the applicants to confirm this information in the legal paperwork they complete when buying a property. As far as Stamp Duty goes, there is a return completed which is sent to HMRC which I believe specifically asks the question "have you ever or do currently own property anywhere in the world" and the response given to this question determines the stamp duty liability, if any is present. Therefore if someone were to answer 'no' when in fact that have owned many years ago, it would be tantamount to tax fraud although, specifically in the case of owning property abroad, I am not actually sure how HMRC would ever know this? If someone had purchased a property previously then there would likely be a Stamp Duty Land Tax return which they completed on that previous purchase way back when, so saying you had never owned a property before and you were a first time buyer when you were not, could catch up with you if HMRC cross reference previous Stamp Duty Land Tax returns against your name and find you had purchased previously.

[northernladuk]

Just out of interest, the definition of a FTB is someone who has never owned a home before. How is that evidenced? Is there a register somewhere? I haven't owned property for 10 years and I know others who bought but then sold up to live in rented for various reasons and have been out of the market for far longer.

A first time buyer is defined as someone who is buying a residential property for the first time. According to HMRC, to be classed as a first-time buyer, you “must not, either alone or with others, have previously acquired a major interest in a dwelling or an equivalent interest in land situated anywhere in the world”

Good guide on what it is and isn't and also some interesting stuff about couples with partners that have bought before etc. Also mentions about long times between mortgages and how some products will call you a FTB but others won't.
https://www.tembomoney.com/learn/fir...ond-time-buyer

[jamesbrown]

I have seen numerous posts from other contractor mortgage specialists on here about the state of the market including Bank of England Base Rate changes and House Price Index changes which are equally, mortgage news but also news which impacts the wider housing market and economy and not once has anyone taken any issue with those posts.

Tbh, those posts are no better than thinly veiled advertising too. They probably haven’t gone unnoticed, but likely have just enough generality to be acceptable. The accountants around here seem to get it “right”, although I appreciate it’s a matter of perspective. Answering questions in the prof forums is a good approach because you’re helping out and you will get noticed, as intended. Starting threads that advertise products in the general area in which you are working/hawking stuff is more likely to raise eyebrows.

[ladymuck]

Just out of interest, the definition of a FTB is someone who has never owned a home before. How is that evidenced? Is there a register somewhere? I haven't owned property for 10 years and I know others who bought but then sold up to live in rented for various reasons and have been out of the market for far longer.

[TheMortgageSquad]

Ask the mod that warned you.



I must admit I've not seen anyone sharing products they sell, maybe in general but defintely not in prof and it's not happened again if they had. Surely you see the line between sharing products you sell and 'news'. If one can do it all will do it and it will be open season to hawk your products on here. Mods are particularly keen on it.
I assume Cojak will tell you exactly the same and point out either get CUK to write and article on it or put it in General.

If you've got some good news I'm sure CUK would welcome an article for you then can put in their main sections here. https://www.contractoruk.com/news

As long as I have been on this forum, under my current username and my old username when I was at the previous firm I worked at, I've always posted in this section of the forum. I appreciate it is Accounting/Legal and not specifically mortgages but from what I can see, mortgages tend to fall into this section as it is more professional based posts rather than a free for all in general. Apologies if I have got that wrong but it has never been mentioned to me before that mortgage posts should go into general.

I'm not coming on here saying X lender currently offers X% rate, grab it whilst you can or anything similar to that and neither would I. The reason for the post is that it is a very new, innovative product launched in the industry which could help the housing market. I have seen numerous posts from other contractor mortgage specialists on here about the state of the market including Bank of England Base Rate changes and House Price Index changes which are equally, mortgage news but also news which impacts the wider housing market and economy and not once has anyone taken any issue with those posts.

Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the lender name and maybe that is where it could have been misconstrued but my intention behind starting the post was to inform people of a new concept in the mortgage market which hasn't really been around in this form for a significant number of years and the potential beneficial impact it may have on the housing market much in the same way posting "Base Rate has increased by 0.25%" would likely lead to the housing market slowing down, especially following on from a number of other previous Base Rate Increases.

I'd be keen to understand how you would have structured the original post as news rather than what you deem to view as me 'selling' products? Not once have I asked for people to contact me for more information or put my contact details on the post saying we can help people and neither would I. I would consider that very much advertising which I know is not permitted here.

[northernladuk]

I agree it's interesting news and probably useful for a lot of people, not everyone is in their 40s and 50s+ with built up savings and multiple properties... northernladuk does not and should not speak for the hundreds/thousands of users browsing these forums just because he has an innate need to comment on almost every thread

Firstly Eek and Cojak also had a similar opinion, albeit much more succinct and they were done but either way not just me.. and surely I've done them a favour by spouting off and extending the thread to 20 posts... No such thing as bad publicity as they say... so I am kind of helping in my strange way

But I guess you are right, too much so I'll retire from the thread.

[northernladuk]

I'd be keen to understand why you feel it is as close as it comes?

Ask the mod that warned you.

I have separately DM'd Cojak to ask her why she took umbridge toward me personally for posting the original post which I must admit, I found a little strange. I am not advertising which I am fully aware I am not allowed to do. Other Contractor Mortgage Broker specialists on here have posted mortgage and interest rate related 'news' posts in the past and not been chastised for it and I am struggling to see why this is any different. I am not the one loaning out the money, nor am I the one who sets the rates or asking for people to contact me.

I must admit I've not seen anyone sharing products they sell, maybe in general but defintely not in prof and it's not happened again if they had. Surely you see the line between sharing products you sell and 'news'. If one can do it all will do it and it will be open season to hawk your products on here. Mods are particularly keen on it.
I assume Cojak will tell you exactly the same and point out either get CUK to write and article on it or put it in General.

If you've got some good news I'm sure CUK would welcome an article for you then can put in their main sections here. https://www.contractoruk.com/news

[pr1]

I agree it's interesting news and probably useful for a lot of people, not everyone is in their 40s and 50s+ with built up savings and multiple properties... northernladuk does not and should not speak for the hundreds/thousands of users browsing these forums just because he has an innate need to comment on almost every thread

[TheMortgageSquad]

It's as close as it comes but don't ask me, ask Cojak, who's made her opinion very clear.

I'd be keen to understand why you feel it is as close as it comes? I'm sharing news which as some kind posters above have alluded to, was not common knowledge. As I have previously said, regardless of whether this mortgage directly interests you or not, the fact this product exists will likely have a positive impact on the housing market. I believe having seen previous posts of yours that you own property so therefore you have an interest in the property market. If you are ever likely to sell property then you'd want the market to be buoyant to be able to get the best price for your property and to sell it relatively quickly and innovative products like this may help people achieve that.

I know you may not be interested in this mortgage or even looking to buy/sell at the moment but there are others out there who may be.

I have separately DM'd Cojak to ask her why she took umbridge toward me personally for posting the original post which I must admit, I found a little strange. I am not advertising which I am fully aware I am not allowed to do. Other Contractor Mortgage Broker specialists on here have posted mortgage and interest rate related 'news' posts in the past and not been chastised for it and I am struggling to see why this is any different. I am not the one loaning out the money, nor am I the one who sets the rates or asking for people to contact me.

The last paragraph in the original post was aimed at pointing out that this will help first time buyers which could inject some much needed interest in a housing market which has been deflated for some time now, a talking point I thought would be of interest to share.

[northernladuk]

The product is of no interest to me but I don't really see why everyone's jumping down TheMortgageSquad's throat, especially as they're not actually trying to flog anything.

It's as close as it comes but don't ask me, ask Cojak, who's made her opinion very clear.

[Snooky]

This is your problem.

Do you think you speak for all contractors on here? Do you know the financial circumstances of the average member, or are you basing your opinion only on the few folks who seem to spend their lives chatting on these boards?

I'm fortunate enough to be an old fogey who's managed to pay off their mortgage and hopefully you're not struggling financially either, but not all contractors are on megabucks and this may be of interest to them, even just as a way to get their foot on the ladder.

The product is of no interest to me but I don't really see why everyone's jumping down TheMortgageSquad's throat, especially as they're not actually trying to flog anything.

[sreed]

It's the arse end of the products you should be looking at though. They mention the fact that they lender is contractor friendly but that's about all that is useful here. The general audience on here is most certainly not looking for a product like this so hardly relevant.

That’s your opinion, fair enough.

Half the things I enjoy on the UKCF forum aren’t strictly ‘relevant’ to me but I follow it for entertainment and knowledge. Prior to coming across this thread, I didn’t know that you could get a mortgage with less than 5% deposit and no guarantors, now I do. So that’s good enough for me.

You might think it ‘arse end’ but I think at 6% it’s fairly priced and innovative for what it is - a mortgage which requires well below a 5% tiny deposit.