Your partner's financial past could influence your credit future.
How will my partner affect my homeowner loan eligibility?
Do you and your partner own a home together? We explore how this could impact your homeowner loan eligibility.
Many couples share a mortgage. Climbing the property ladder as a pair can help you apply for a bigger mortgage and split costs evenly.
Not only does this mean you’re both responsible for the mortgage repayments, but it also means you’re both responsible for any finance secured to the property. In this guide, we explore how your partner could affect your eligibility.
Can I apply for a homeowner loan without my partner?
Whether or not you can apply for a homeowner loan without your partner all depends on if you’re both on the mortgage.
Homeowner loans are secured against your property. While this means you can often borrow large amounts, it does come with a certain risk factor: if you fall behind with your repayments, your home could be repossessed.
If you and your partner live together and jointly own the property, you’ll both be responsible for any loans secured against your home. As missed payments could put your home at risk, everyone who’s named on your mortgage will need to agree to the loan before the application is approved.
That means any couples who own a home together will need to make a joint application for the loan – even if only one of you actually uses the money.
So do we both need good credit scores to apply for a joint loan?
If you or your partner has a less than perfect credit score, you could be worrying about making a joint application for a homeowner loan.
If one of you has a stronger credit score, it could mean the lender is more likely to look past issues on the other credit file. While lenders will typically look at both credit files during the application process, they’ll base their decision on whoever has the strongest credit score.
At Evolution Money, we believe in making the application process as simple as possible. If you and your partner jointly own a home, we’ll look at both credit files and find a loan based on the strongest of the two – giving you the best chance of being accepted.
Can my partner improve my homeowner loan eligibility?
Having a bad credit score can often make it harder to be accepted for financial products – so it’s understandable to wonder if your partner can boost your chances of being approved.
As we mentioned above, if you and your partner own your home together, we will look at both credit files during the application process. If your partner has a better credit score than you, it could increase your eligibility. Even if you have a poor credit history, it’s reassuring to know your partner has a good record of making payments on time.
Making a joint application for a loan can boost your eligibility as the responsibility is shared between the two of you. In the eyes of a lender, you’re more likely to afford the repayments if you share the cost. Plus, if one of you becomes unable to pay the bills, there’s still someone responsible for making the joint loan repayments on time.
Are my partner and I equally responsible for homeowner loan repayments?
No matter who spends the money, both homeowners will be equally responsible for making sure the loan is fully repaid.
That’s not to say you have to split the cost of the loan, however. It could be the case that one half of the couple (i.e. the highest earner) makes the repayments every month, whilst the other half doesn’t deal with the loan at all.
It simply means that, if one half of the couple becomes unable to repay the loan, it will fall on the other partner to ensure it’s paid – even if they never usually handle the repayments.
What happens if we share a homeowner loan and split up?
Breaking up with your partner can be tricky enough – but if you share a homeowner loan, it can be even more confusing.
If you’re both on the Land Registry but have since split up, you’ll typically need to buy your partner out of the mortgage (or vise versa). Then, your partner would need to seek Independent Legal Advice and sign the Legal Charge. A Legal Charge notifies any potential buyers of the existence of any debt against the property.
Many people choose to sell their home in this situation – however, you’ll need to check with your lender before doing this.
Apply for a Joint Loan with confidence
If you and your partner are looking for a homeowner loan, we’re here to help. No matter what your financial circumstances look like, we’ll aim to provide an affordable loan that suits you both.
With a totally free no-obligation quote, you can see what your future repayments could look like before you apply. So whatever plans you and your partner have on the horizon, we could help make them a reality with our joint homeowner loans.
Think carefully before securing debts against your home your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other loan secured against it. If you are thinking of consolidating existing borrowing, you should be aware that you may be extending the terms of the debt and increasing the total amount you repay.
