Q&A

What kind of deposit do we need? And will we be approved for a mortgage?

I am self employed bringing in a salary of around £20K, which is increasing yearly. My accounts are now being managed by an accountant. I also temp, and am paid by PAYE, which tops up my earnings by around £5K. My credit record is spotless. My partner is in the forces, earning approx £28K, with a small payrise yearly. He had poor credit some years ago due to late payments (never failed payments) and we have taken steps to acquire him a credit card, spend sensibly on it, and improve his rating. He is registered with Experian and monitors the improvements. We have no loans (except my student loan) or debts, except his overdraft which carries a fixed charge of around £30/month. We have an ISA and are saving £7K/year for the next 3 years, so around £21K plus whatever else we can put in. We would like to buy a property in the region of £150-170K. - Is this a large enough deposit? - What is the likelihood of us acquiring a mortgage, as I'm aware that self-employed persons are less likely to be approved? - And will his poor credit history be a problem, even though we've corrected the issues? Any advice you can offer would be great, as different sites give varying advice about deposit amounts for married couples in our situation. Many thanks.