What house can I afford?

Independent mortgage advisor Scott Howitt answers the all important questions.

“If you’re not sure what you can afford to borrow, a mortgage specialist will be able to help you” says Scott at Chartwell Mortgage Services.

“Whenever we get a customer, we will fact find to ascertain whether we can obtain a mortgage for that customer. It may well be that we can’t get them the amount they want, or the rate is a little bit higher, but I want to go back to people with solutions.” 

“They’ll then make a decision on whether they want to proceed with it, but until you’ve done that work, you can’t say ‘this is the solution for you’.”

Manage your money

This question isn’t as straightforward as what you can afford to borrow but it’s one Scott explains very well and the advice he always gives to customers is to start right back in the beginning with budget planning: 

“Make sure you can afford it” he says. “Make sure it’s going to be comfortable for you, make sure it’s going to be sustainable when you’re in there as well. Make sure if your mortgage rate goes up, you’re able to absorb the cost of that.”

Make it go further

“It’s also important to consider the total cost of running your home and it’s worth noting that new build homes are more energy efficient than the national average,” he adds.

“Most people are surprised when they see the savings they can make on their monthly outgoings. Energy and water bills are typically much lower in a new build property, plus a number of lenders now offer Green Mortgages with preferential rates for owners of energy efficient homes.

“All of these things can make a huge difference to what you can afford.”