Assistance with Mortgage Application

I am hoping for some advice on a mortgage application myself and my husband are currently making and regarding childcare costs that we are obliged (or not) to disclose. When meeting with our mortgage adviser to discuss our case and proceed our application we were told that out childcare costs “are whatever we tell the bank they are”.


At the moment we have a family member minding our children and we pay her on a bi weekly basis, cash in hand. We are both happy with this arrangement. As it does not leave our accounts as a specific direct debit are we obliged to disclose this to the bank? Would a regular withdrawal of funds alert suspicion on our statements (approx. €350/400 twice a month?)


Thanks

Hi Looking
There are 3 questions a person should ask of themselves in putting an application together
1) What bank to chose and how much will I get
2) How much can I borrow
3) How much can I afford now and if rates increased in the future
Questions 1, 2 and 3 can have different answers but 3 is the critical one irrespective of what a bank informs you of what you qualify for as the answer to question 3 is the critical answer irrespective of 1 and 2
Padraic

Thanks for the reply.
I should have mentioned that we are confident in making re-payments. We have a tracker mortgage and have been over paying by a large amount which would more than cover an increase of repayments on a new mortgage. That coupled with a decrease in childcare costs as the children get older makes me not foresee any issues.

My query is more linked to Point 2 - if we disclose how much childcare we currently pay then the amount the bank will lead us is hugely impacted - if we choose not to disclose this are there repercussions?

Hi Stop over paying the tracker mortgage immediately as the new loan will be at a higher rate, I would disclose all relevant information as it is important for the banks underwriting of your case
Padraic

Hi, yes we have stopped over paying the tracker mortgage some months ago. We are hoping to obtain a tracker retention negative equity mortgage. Unfortunately if we disclose our full child care costs the amount we can borrow is not sufficient.