NewStats: 3,264,416 , 8,183,663 topics. Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2025 at 12:52 AM 3c6z5i

teeebest:
Mortgage Advice.

Hello Elders, we are on tier 4 presently. Our visas will expire next month. My wife and I both work with the NHS and we are expecting our COS any time soon. We clocked two years in the UK in February and we started viewing properties in our area.

We maxed out our savings with moneybox. We recently saw a property we love and started the process with a moneybox mortgage adviser. He sent us this qoute:
• The lender is Skipton Building Society
* The mortgage loan amount is £126,000
* The rate is fixed for 2 years @ 6.19%
* There is no lender arrangement fee to pay
* The mortgage term is 25 years
* The mortgage is on a repayment basis
* Your monthly mortgage repayments are £825.66

Is this reasonable or we should wait and switch our visa to Tier 2(probably this month end/early May) and retry if we can get a better offer/rate please?

This is rather steep

First is your mortgage advisor able to search the whole market or just a select lenders? They should tell you this.

Secondly, the two main issues which affect your mortgage rate outside the Bank of England base rate (which you dont control), are your LTV (what percentage cash you have) and your term (fixed, variable e.t.c)
BOE rates are likely to fall over the coming years. At the max of rates hikes, 6% was considered steep. If locking in now, I'd target much lower

Many folks on visas use Barclays. Even their 90% ltv is well below 6%
https://www.barclays.co.uk/mortgages/fixed-rate-mortgage/

On a wider note, as a first time buyer, you have the advantage of not paying stamp duty in most cases plus help to buy bonus. The advice is usually to buy asap but this may not fit everyone. If your rent is reasonably priced, and you're both in stable jobs, sometimes waiting a bit to build your deposit so you can go for a good house in a nice area with good prospects for capital appreciation. In every town, there are parts to avoid and no need buying only to start planning a move in 1-2yrs. Reason I say this is because a mortgage of 126,000 (except you have a good deposit) is unlikely to give you a good place in most parts of the country.

profemebee:
Signed sealed and delivered....

New build .. 12% deposit.. Barclays..

Thanks to everyoneeeeeeeeeeeee.. especially Lexus, Ticha, justwise, LagosismyHome, Deept, Estroller, Stevepop, Mohtunrahyor, Santa2, Zahra29, Solumtoya, Jedisco, Peerielass, bigtt76, newbie715, etc

I hope i didn't forget anyone...

Rent money isn't dead money tho....

Have a blessed day

Congratulations. Greater things are coming your way 👍

..

sholadele4:
Seniors on this thread, I started living in the UK almost 2 years ago and I'm finally working towards getting a mortgage. I would like to know if my credit history from Nigeria plays a role in this process.

Capital NO.......

Get your credit report from Experian/clearscore/totallymoney..........

Lexusgs430:


Capital NO.......

Get your credit report from Experian/clearscore/totallymoney..........

Thanks for the swift response.

jedisco:


This is rather steep

First is your mortgage advisor able to search the whole market or just a select lenders? They should tell you this.

Secondly, the two main issues which affect your mortgage rate outside the Bank of England base rate (which you dont control), are your LTV (what percentage cash you have) and your term (fixed, variable e.t.c)
BOE rates are likely to fall over the coming years. At the max of rates hikes, 6% was considered steep. If locking in now, I'd target much lower

Many folks on visas use Barclays. Even their 90% ltv is well below 6%
https://www.barclays.co.uk/mortgages/fixed-rate-mortgage/

On a wider note, as a first time buyer, you have the advantage of not paying stamp duty in most cases plus help to buy bonus. The advice is usually to buy asap but this may not fit everyone. If your rent is reasonably priced, and you're both in stable jobs, sometimes waiting a bit to build your deposit so you can go for a good house in a nice area with good prospects for capital appreciation. In every town, there are parts to avoid and no need buying only to start planning a move in 1-2yrs. Reason I say this is because a mortgage of 126,000 (except you have a good deposit) is unlikely to give you a good place in most parts of the country.

Thank you Boss. We are in the North east hence the 126k.

Go on the Barclays website and search mortgages then request for a call-back from a Financial Guide, you'd be able to have 1 option in that.

What part of the North East are you in?

teeebest:


Thank you Boss. We are in the North east hence the 126k.

sholadele4:
Seniors on this thread, I started living in the UK almost 2 years ago and I'm finally working towards getting a mortgage. I would like to know if my credit history from Nigeria plays a role in this process.

Hehe... what happened in 9ja... U dey owe banks money?

..

LaXxOnebody:
Go on the Barclays website and search mortgages then request for a call-back from a Financial Guide, you'd be able to have 1 option in that.

What part of the North East are you in?

Okay Boss.

Near Sunderland. Peterlee precisely.

Ah nice!

You should buy a mansion! The houses out there are bigger and have more space.

Im further north in Newcastle.

teeebest:


Okay Boss.

Near Sunderland. Peterlee precisely.

teeebest:


Okay Boss.

Near Sunderland. Peterlee precisely.

That's good. Houses in South Shields are expensive then.

LaXxOnebody:
Ah nice!

You should buy a mansion! The houses out there are bigger and have more space.

Im further north in Newcastle.

Yes oo. It is a 4 bedroom house we are getting for 140k.

Dharmie02:


That's good. Houses in South Shields are expensive then.

Yes. South Shields is more of an urban area compared to our side.

That would be relative.

In South Shields you can see shops and amenities at every 5 minutes walk. It's more populated, there are more job opportunities too.

You'd have to choose between 'cheap' and more urban. You can have a look at Cramlington for larger and cheaper properties too.

The 'expensive' houses are in Gosforth, Heaton & Jesmond.

Dharmie02:


That's good. Houses in South Shields are expensive then.

teeebest:


Yes oo. It is a 4 bedroom house we are getting for 140k.

What? No be to relocate go North East like this?

Hi everyone

Do I have to do a survey for an old build?

teeebest:


Yes oo. It is a 4 bedroom house we are getting for 140k.

I'm surprised.. even for the north wasn't expecting it this 'cheap'.

opeoyek:
Hi everyone

Do I have to do a survey for an old build?

Thats where it's more important. Don't think its compulsory though.

Okay

jedisco:


Thats where it's more important. Don't think its compulsory though.

opeoyek:
Hi everyone

Do I have to do a survey for an old build?

You don't have to, but it is in your interest to do one.

Noted, thanks for responding

Estroller:


You don't have to, but it is in your interest to do one.

opeoyek:
Hi everyone

Do I have to do a survey for an old build?

Without a basic survey, your mortgage provider would NEVER release funds......

You can conduct an upgraded survey, for a little more extra report & possiblity of reducing asking price ........

teeebest:


Yes oo. It is a 4 bedroom house we are getting for 140k.

This is awesome! Sounds ridiculously cheap. More info please. Is it for a new build, old house or derelict house needing renovation? I’ve got a friend that turns around cheap BTL properties in Liverpool, but not heard of opportunities like these in Nort East. Please shed more light. Thanks

I guess i need to carry out a survey, thanks for responding

Lexusgs430:


Without a basic survey, your mortgage provider would NEVER release funds......

You can conduct an upgraded survey, for a little more extra report & possiblity of reducing asking price ........

Jamesclooney:


This is awesome! Sounds ridiculously cheap. More info please. Is it for a new build, old house or derelict house needing renovation? I’ve got a friend that turns around cheap BTL properties in Liverpool, but not heard of opportunities like these in Nort East. Please shed more light. Thanks

It’s an old house with a new kitchen, garage, etc. Solar s installed already so we can economise our electricity bills. Search for houses in Peterlee. It’s a village/town compared to big cities like Sunderland though.

I have the same concern too. Even in this my 1940 build, you still hear tatatatata in the oza room. My Oyibo neighbours won’t let me sleep. Why is youkay like this?👀

Santa2:


When I got the £1000 bonus from last year. It felt so so good. Make I start to dey gather this year own .

Chief , how does this LISA works? Say i intend to save up to 4k P.A do i have to save the 4k at once or i make a monthly contribution towards the £4k and which LISA do you recommend

mex551:
I have the same concern too. Even in this my 1940 build, you still hear tatatatata in the oza room. My Oyibo neighbours won’t let me sleep. Why is youkay like this?👀

It's indeed a major concern. We had to ask our neighbours and they confirmed they don't hear any noise from ours and we also don't hear from them either. Between 2 different houses, there's sufficient sound proofing, it's required by the Building Regulations for new houses.

Where the wahala is is across rooms in the same house. That's an absolute mess. The pro for parents is that they can easily hear their kids from another room but it's a major worry that bed activities from the Masters bedroom can probably be heard.

toms55:


Chief , how does this LISA works? Say i intend to save up to 4k P.A do i have to save the 4k at once or i make a monthly contribution towards the £4k and which LISA do you recommend

You can save it monthly or put it in at once. Doesn’t matter.

Check for the cash LISAs with the highest interest rates. Moneybox is good and has high rates last I checked. I think people have also recommended Trading212 here.

For stocks and shares, it doesn’t really matter as much because it’s the funds you buy that matter more and you can buy into most indexes on almost all the platforms. Since you’re asking this question I think it’d be better for you to just use a cash ISA. Stocks and shares LISA requires some more oversight and experience to deal with, plus if you’re planning to buy in the next couple of years, you’d best avoid the volatility.

toms55:


Chief , how does this LISA works? Say i intend to save up to 4k P.A do i have to save the 4k at once or i make a monthly contribution towards the £4k and which LISA do you recommend

Like someone highlighted before me, you can pay the 4k as a lump sum or do it in installments; weekly/monthly which ever suits you. There are a range of s out there and I would say do your due diligence. I use moneybox and its been phenomenal for the last three years. Recently drew down our deposit/bonus and took just 3 days to get to the solicitors. It was easy to setup, assigned a free mortgage advisor when we needed advise and respond to enquiries promptly.

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