THE odds are stacked against first-time buyers, especially if they have a pesky mark on their credit score.
These can be a red flag to mortgage lenders making it harder to borrow money and get a foot on the property ladder.
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A simple mistake led to a dent in the credit history of Jonathan Birt, 33, affecting his prospects of buying a house with partner Grace Crawford, 25.
The couple were forced to ditch their original plans of buying together, just the two of them, instead bringing in another person to help them afford it – Jonathan’s mum.
The team manager at a distribution centre missed a £300 loan payment in December 2021.
The mistake meant that he needed more than double the money for a deposit.
Bringing in Jonathan’s mum, Donna, 61, who can’t work because of a medical condition, meant they had more cash to put down for their first home in which they now all live together.
Jonathan sold his car to raise money for his share of the deposit, while Grace, who works in a cafe, moved out of university accommodation and back in with her parents to save cash.
The couple took out a mortgage in their name, and Donna puts money towards their monthly repayments too.
Jonathan, Grace and Donna completed on their home earlier this month.
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The Sun found out how Jonathan went from being a saver to a homeowner for The Sun’s My First Home series.
Tell me about your home
It’s a four-bedroom, three storey townhouse in Rushden, Northamptonshire.
On the first floor, there’s a toilet, a storage cupboard and a bedroom, which we are using as an office.
We also have an open-plan kitchen and living room, with French doors leading to the garden and a garage.
The second-floor is my mum’s main living area.
There’s a lounge space and a master bedroom with an ensuite.
On the top floor there are two bedrooms, and a bathroom.
We fell in love with the house because it has the potential to be almost like two separate apartments.
It means Grace and I can have our own space, and mum can have her own space too.
How did you decide on location
We got very lucky with this house because we had looked at so many that were more expensive and nowhere near as nice.
Originally, we had looked at a new-build with a garage that we were going to convert into a bedroom and wet-room for mum, but this would have been costly.
We had also looked at some properties in Bedfordshire, but they were a lot more money.
I grew up in Rushden and mum has been based here for many years, so we decided it was a good place to buy.
My mum was also looking for somewhere else to live at the time after her partner passed away and the house went to probate.
Personally, it made sense for her to move in with me, plus it also helped to raise the extra cash we needed for the house deposit.
Grace currently lives in Luton, but she will be moving in in the next few months once she has found a job in Northamptonshire.
How much did you pay for your first home?
Our house was on the market for £280,000, but we had our offer of £275,000 accepted by the sellers.
We put down a 15% deposit of £41,250.
We took out a mortgage of around £240,000 for 35 years with a fixed rate of 6.6% for five years.
The mortgage is just in mine and Grace’s name because having the three of us on it gave us fewer options with lenders.
Our repayments are £1,440 a month, which we split between the three of us.
I pay £600 while mum and Grace pay £420 each. I take the bigger share because I have the highest income.
How did you save for your first home?
The three of us all contributed to the deposit.
My mum put down just over £10,000 from the sale of her previous home.
She also sold some of her old jewellery for around £3,000, which was also put towards the deposit.
While Grace put in around £13,000 that she had saved up since the start of lockdown.
She was living in University accommodation, but decided to move back in with her parents, where she just paid a couple of hundred pounds a month in rent.
Because of the pandemic, she also didn’t need to fork out for travel to Coventry University because teaching became remote.
It also meant that she saved on things that students tend to spend their money on, like nights out.
As well as her full-time job in a cafe, she also has a side-hustle as a freelance photographer helping her to earn a bit of extra cash.
On average, she earns around £200 to £350 a month doing this.
Apart from the rent that she paid to her parents, Grace had very little outgoings so she was able to save quite a lot of money in the space of a few years.
I also contributed £13,000 to our deposit by selling my sports car.
Were there any complications?
Unfortunately, my credit score was hit because I defaulted on a loan I took out to buy my car.
I missed one £300 payment without realising, but I continued to pay the loan as normal after that.
After three months, I received an account notice from my lender, telling me that I had to catch up with my payments or my account would be closed.
Unfortunately, I found this too late and the debt was refereed to an agency.
This meant we had to find a lender that specialised in mortgages for people with bad credit and we also had to put down a much larger deposit.
I am still paying off the loan in small monthly instalments.
How did you afford to furnish your first home?
We used some of the furniture from my mum’s old house and I also had some pieces from my previous rental property.
At the moment, everything is a bit mismatched but we’re hoping to buy things in stages to spread out the cost.
What advice would you give to other first-time buyers?
Even though you may have a black mark on your credit history, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get a mortgage.
There are a lot of other lenders though, that you can speak to and they will give you a quote based on your specific situation.
Get a copy of your credit file and look through it. The lenders can go through it with you and advise on things you can do to boost it.
Make sure that you assess your options and don’t settle for the first property that you find.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something.
Mortgage brokers and solicitors can use really complicated terminology and it’s best to know exactly what it means.
Plus, don’t underestimate how much the process costs.
Be sure to budget for extra things like solicitors and broker fees.
Meanwhile, we spoke to one family who managed to buy their first home despite a big blow to their ownership dream.
Plus, one savvy saver explains how he bought his £265k first home EIGHT years earlier than planned.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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