Tips to afford the house you want

If you've found your dream home but can't quite borrow enough to make it yours, here are a few tips that could help make your dream home a reality:

• Roll up your debt
• Check your credit rating
• Borrow over a longer term

Or have you thought about...

• Buying with friends
• Having a guarantor

You could also consider the following schemes depending on the type of property you buy...

• Shared ownership
• Shared equity  

 Roll up your debt
Ideally you would pay off any existing personal loans, credit cards and store cards before you apply for a mortgage, so you can borrow the maximum amount. Unfortunately life's not always that simple, so consider rolling your debt into one monthly payment with the lowest possible interest rate. Find out what loans we have available

Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

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Check your credit rating

If you've had problems with your credit in the past, even a few missed payments on your credit card, this may reduce the amount you can borrow. The first thing to do is contact the credit reference agency and ask for details of your credit file, which they have to provide by law. The credit reference agency for Halifax is Experian.

Once you have all the details, you can then sit down with a Mortgage Adviser to get some helpful advice.

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Borrow over a longer term

You can also extend your mortgage term beyond the standard 25 years. We offer a term of up to 40 years. Just bear in mind that the longer you take to repay your mortgage the more interest you'll be charged.

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If you're still not able to borrow enough, there are other ways on to the property ladder.

Buying with friends

Buying with a close group of friends is becoming more popular. Buying with a friend has down sides as well as up sides – it's worth considering renting together for at least 6 months to check how well you suit living together before committing to a mortgage.

We will consider providing a mortgage for more than 2 applicants, which means you could share costs with friends so things are more affordable.

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Having a guarantor

You could consider asking someone (like your parents) to be a guarantor on your mortgage. Basically a guarantor is someone who guarantees to repay the mortgage if the borrower can't or won't for any reason. This is usually a short term option. You can request to remove a guarantor at a later date, when you are financially able to pay off the mortgage yourself. It's a good idea to get some legal advice if you decide to look into this option.

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You could also consider the following schemes depending on the type of property you buy

Shared ownership

One way to get on the property ladder is to buy a home that's available on a shared ownership basis. For example, you could own 75% of the property while someone else (usually a housing association) owns the rest. You pay a mortgage on 75% and rent on the other 25%. You could also have the option to buy more in set proportions. To find out more about this option, speak to your local housing association. You'll find their details in your local telephone directory.

The government have launched an initiative to help first time buyers on the ladder – especially key workers. Visit housingcorp.gov.uk for more information.

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Shared equity

With this type of scheme you'd buy a property at a discounted price, for example 90% of the purchase price. Then someone else (such as the property developer) holds a second mortgage on the property for the other 10%. This means that when it is eventually sold they would receive 10% of the property's new value.

Even if we can't help, our sister lender Birmingham Midshires may be able to.

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Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage