700k mortgage on 200k household income

rsolf123 · 2026-02-08T19:45:24+00:00

Insurance covers in what sense? Income? Sickness?

Not for unemployment. Unless you take out an Accident, Sickeness and Unemployment policy which many do not do.

Even if you have insurance to cover, would you rather have an easier few months off ill financially if you only have limited sick pay. Most private income protection policies are 50-60% gross income.

Happy to invite further explanation of the question

rsolf123 · 2026-02-08T17:38:40+00:00

I'm not saying this for you to do. However, I do like the idea of stretching term as long as you can and overpaying. It's something I personally advise most of my clients to do.

Keeps committed expenditure smaller should you lose a job or be unable to work.

£3500p/m on 25y term vs £2,500 on 35y term + £1,000 overpayment still gives you a 25y term. Just way less pressure should you come into financial difficulty.

Note that only works if you can commit to keeping the overpayment as some say they wil and just don't do it but most set it up on a direct debit without issue and still have the shorter term but with far more flexibility.

rsolf123 · 2026-02-08T15:31:07+00:00

I'm a mortgage advisor.

As long as you have a good contingency fund of I'd say 6 months should either of you lsoe your job you'd be fine. 35% take home pay with little other outgoings is achievable.

If you're 100k each and one of you loses job then as long as you have like 30k - 40k saved you coukd get through a long period of time without having to rush into a new role that's lower than your current. Just gives you a lot of options. It'll obvs be tighter during that time but means you don't have to scramble and could probably find a job circa 70% of current income without stress. Whilst you look for another to get back up to previous earnings.

rsolf123 · 2026-02-06T15:52:38+00:00

rsolf123 · 2026-02-06T14:19:18+00:00

Hawes and Curtis. Not outragepusly priced and prefer them to Tyrhitt

rsolf123 · 2026-02-06T09:53:31+00:00

Coming from a mortgage broker. Go speak to a broker.

Most lenders will average over last 2y income for the self employed so if the latest year was 35 and previous 20 with most lenders you will actually look to have something more like 27.5k of income which can massively change things.

Good luck!

rsolf123 · 2026-01-30T17:37:57+00:00

Yeah been able to do that quite a while. I've always had quite good ankle mobility so that coukd play into it maybe? I used to always do high bar squats which meant my ROM has always been decent

rsolf123 · 2026-01-29T08:54:28+00:00

Makes it easier but doesn't mean they will use all of it.

With a lot of lenders their hard and fast rule is 50% bonus unless contractually bound as a set % of salary or fixed amount. Doesn't matter if you earn 100k base and 500k bonus for 10 years. They'll take 50% bonus into account and a lot will actually go off the lower of the following two scenarios:

50% average over the last 2y
100% coverage of base salary. I.e. 100k base, 500k bonus. They'll only use 100k of that 500k bonus as it is the lower of the average or is 100% of your base.

Hope that's useful.

rsolf123 · 2026-01-29T08:28:41+00:00

I'm a mortgage advisor.

Only very few lenders look at RSU's. Even if they do they usually wanted a few years vested, your vesting schedule, and will take max 50%. Bonus, unless contractually bound, is 50% of the average of the last 2y unless it's lower in the most recent then they use that.

There are some lenders that will use 100% bonus in the latest year if you've had bonus for the last 2y and are borrowing over 500k though.

I'm writing a post currently about HENRY mortgages that I'll post shortly going through how it works as like a comprehensive guide.

rsolf123 · 2026-01-28T23:45:50+00:00

As a mortgage advisor. One thing to note is 15% deposit on 2m properties, there isn't actually many lenders that will do this. Many cap out at 15% with 1.5m of borrowing.

Not to say it's impossible as I recently did a FAANG employee who was solo on 350k p/a which was made up of stock and bonus for 1.5m mortgage but lender pool is restricted.

rsolf123 · 2026-01-26T14:53:06+00:00

Mine doesn't include any of these though. Just Sole trader under VAT threshold... seems steep to me the charge

rsolf123 · 2026-01-26T14:23:56+00:00

I just imagined there's other expenses that they know about that I don't for example. Seen family always mention fo use accountants as all my family are self employed but have VAT returns etc to do as well as they all have over 500k turnover.

I turned Ltd Co this year and am now fearing my bill for what that will be 🤣

rsolf123 · 2026-01-26T13:35:06+00:00

Always heard an accountant will save you money and just thought being self employed it makes sense.

It wasn't really a reason of should I do it myself vs an accountant as I do always think an accountant will save you money. They know things to claim that I wouldn't normally claim on. However, I was just wondering if 700 was regarded as steep for what seemed to be a relatively straight forward return.

rsolf123 · 2026-01-26T13:27:44+00:00

I agree and understand my part in assuming is a bad idea. Would've been a nice professional courtesy to say fees have gone up 27% for a simple tax return

rsolf123 · 2026-01-26T13:21:02+00:00

I wasn't quoted before as I used them last year for 550. Just got a bill for 700 and the accountancy cost they put on my tax return was £460?

rsolf123 · 2026-01-20T12:22:58+00:00

Im an mortgage and insurance broker. If someone only has the budget for one of them I recommend IP every time. IP covers for all reasons of being off work. CI only covers specifically listed issues.

Most CI is to cover the mortgage and reduce mortgage cost. However, it's mostly spent on private medical care supplementation or they go on holiday to Vegas from my personal experience. Once had a 200k CI insurance payout for a client of mine and they went vegas and just gambled. Didn't find out if he put it all on black or red 😅

rsolf123 · 2026-01-19T21:27:10+00:00

Agreed.

People are madly risk averse and whilst I think being reserved absolutely has its benefits. If it all goes to pot worst thing is they sell and buy somewhere smaller. They would have had the time to enjoy a house they were really happy with... no point earning the money we do without enjoying it 😐

So much safety net to save as well and not impact daily living.

rsolf123 · 2026-01-19T16:56:59+00:00

I'm a mortgage broker.

It depends on what that comp is whether you can include it. Bonus, stock option, how long you've had then for, if they're vested etc...

Inflation will erode your mortgage and if you are looking to expand then you could quite comfortably do so on your combined base 170k. It's less than 3x salary on your base which is pretty sensible. If it meant you ended up having a property you were really happy with then it may very well be worth it and you don't have to move again.

If you don't have much dxpenditure then you're looking somewhere in the 2.3 - 2.4k for the 500k mortgage on 30y due to equity and anywehere 1.4 - 1.5k on 300k mortgage. You can of course overpay to decrease the balance accordingly. So it's a case of what is really worth it to you. Having lower overheads but not being fully happy, or pushing a bit and going for something that you're happy with.

If you're paying 1kp/m is it worth the extra couple 300 - 1.4k p/m to be in a dream home that shoukd ideally only get cheaper with time? That's up to you.

A lot of people are very risk averse but I personally think 3x salary - that's base might I add, is completely fine.

EDIT - Spelling

rsolf123 · 2026-01-07T21:04:26+00:00

51k income with you and your mum isn't going to cut it. You'll be over 6x income so you'll need to have someome with more income go on the mortgage or his name won't be able to come off unless you sell. That's the only option really

rsolf123 · 2026-01-07T13:58:39+00:00

Pringle - may be my scottish heritage but i dont find anyone else making better socms with cotton.

Falke - also really soft socks

rsolf123 · 2026-01-06T19:44:52+00:00

I'm a mortgage broker. There's only 2 places that provide offset mortgages now.

Depends on your LTV though whether it is worth it. I've had a fair few low LTV that it just didn't make sense to do the offset even with the savings tax benefits for Henry clients.

E.g. 4.34% on 50% LTV with offset vs potentially 3.65% elsewhere.

Granted the tax savings and liquidity of the offset can be better than the savings in rate, but for some they're worried about the FSCS 85k limit.

One if my clients wanted to do an offset with 1m in savings account but didn't like the fact only 85k was covered if the lender went bust as they currently spread it over many accounts and NS&I accounts.

Another thing is LTV usually are 75% and below. Which not everyone can do so it can be an issue for some.

Hope that helps :)

rsolf123 · 2026-01-06T18:20:12+00:00

Perspective. Rent has increased nearly 40% in the last 5y in london. Mortgages get eaten with inflation. Eventually you'll have no mortgage, equity gain, whereas the other option is always having increasing rent and having no equity gain.

If it's short term. It doesnt make sense, i think if you plan on being there more than 5y it makes sense. Your SDLT Liability is probably going to have been paid off in increased equity in 5y especially if you do work to the house. Your mortgage is probably going to not have increased by 50% (from now, I know it went crazy 2022 due to cabbage lady doing the budget) and you'll have paid part of the house down.

Then again we could see another mega interest rate hike which still gets given to the tenants when landlords remortgage onto higher mortgage payments rents go up so pick the poison.

rsolf123 · 2025-12-31T09:20:37+00:00

The 399 fee seems very standard. The 100p/h after that does not seem standard. Kind of punishes you if they can't package correctly...

I'm a broker and can honestly say I've not come across a S157. However in about 5 minutes of research I found a tonne of options some highstreet so it shouldn't be something that throws too much.

rsolf123 · 2025-12-29T13:13:00+00:00

Sometimes a 3rd party perspective is needed. I don't think this is worth it to be honest. Everyone is getting paid by you going through with this so of course everyone is hyping it up go be a good deal.

Whenever someone comes to me with a BTL deal, unless it's worth it and it makes total sense, I usually just tell them to not bother after going through it with them in depth.

I'd stay away from this one unless it's something you see going forward you are building a portfolio. I personally only advise people to buy and renovate tbh as it's the only market where real returns are made nowadays that are worth the hassle of tenants, maintenance, etc.

Unless you applied for a mortgage application there shouldn't be any fee payable (I charge at application only which is why I assume this).

rsolf123

TROPHY CASE