House mortgage and owning horses

[huskydamage]

Trying to buy my first house with OH he is convinced we are going to have issues getting a mortgage because of my expensive horse hobby. There must be people here who own horses and have managed to buy a house first time?
OH is a massive worrier and I'm hoping there are some positive stories here I can show?
I have two horses which I keep on land I pay rent for and there is no inheritance/help involved this is all out of own money/savings. Surely I cannot be the only person who has done it this way. Getting rid of my horses is not an option but we also need a place to live ?

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If you find a good mortgage/financial advisor, they will be able to explain 'affordability' to you and tell you how much you should be able to borrow. They will also find the mortgage companies who are most likely to lend to you in your particular circumstances.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

My mortgage provider was only interested in any debts/credit cards, any dependents etc. Horse didn’t even factor in to my affordability I guess because to them I’m not legally bound to carry on paying, I could sell!

When we originally applied I had my horse on full livery so was shelling out £700 a month.

 

[Arzada]

Exactly as pearlsasinger says. Find a mortgage advisor then you will know exactly what you can borrow etc. Then you're dealing with facts and not what ifs

 

[maya2008]

Have never had the horses even considered - they are a hobby, in terms of the mortgage company, one you could sell up on at any time.

 

[Red-1]

I included my horse bills in with any mortgage application figures, as there is no point taking on a mortgage that I could then not afford.

I was highest in mortgage in the days of much higher interest rates though. I made sure we could cover basics up to 15% mortgage. I thought that was high enough (it was under 10 at the time) but it did briefly go over that.

It would have been awful to be over committed.

They did insist on including any loans etc, as well as a suitable figure for food and electric, but I need not have included the horse. As other posters have said, I could have simply sold up.

 

[MissTyc]

I gave my horse-related expenses as part of the sports/hobbies/holidays declaration. My mortgage advisor said I was spending less on the horses than most of his clients on annual holidays.

 

[asmp]

Daughter had no problem getting her first mortgage even though she had a horse.

 

[Muddywellies]

We took out another mortgage recently (we've had many over the years) and they looked at all outgoings. They do an affordability checker. My horse is on full livery costing a fortune and I had to tell the mortgage chap that if things got tight, horse would go on DIY which would save me about £400 a month. They need to know that you can tighten your belt if needs be. But, the way you keep your horses doesn't sound frivolous (my livery bill is eyewateringly expensive ?) and if youre not having fancy holidays, paying out HP on a snazzy car, paying an expensive TV packing etc etc, then I can't see the horses being a problem. Mortgage companies do allow you to live a bit, providing its all affordable.

 

[sjdress]

I managed to get my first house when also owning a horse. They were more concerned about a loan I had, which I paid off and that helped massively with how much they would let us borrow

 

[stormox]

Since when have hobbies been considered when applying for a mortgage?

 

[Griffin]

My livery bill was explained as 'sports and leisure' and wasn't considered in terms of affordability. I currently have a loan and that would be more if an issue if I decided to move.

I guess the way it was looked at is I could sell my horse if I had (not that I ever would, I would see the house first).

 

[Muddywellies]

Since when have hobbies been considered when applying for a mortgage?

It's overall affordability they are looking at, to help stop people borrowing more than they can realistically afford.

 

[Abi90]

My mortgage lender wasn’t interested. Even when I mentioned it. As far as they were concerned the horses could be sold if necessary and didn’t impact affordability

 

[Parrotperson]

they won't be in the slightest bit interested in your hobby expensive or otherwise!

Get your financial ducks in a row before you start viewing (get a mortgages offer and be able to prove you have the deposit) and off you go.

 

[conniegirl]

We recently remortgaged, they were not interested in hobbies which is what they put the horse down as

 

[BeckyFlowers]

I got my mortgage in 2014 just after the rules all changed (when there was the stories in the press saying lenders will ask how often you have your hair and nails done etc) and I was bricking it, but they didn't take my horse expenses into account. They also didn't take my contact lens direct debit into account. But the advisor did go down my three months of bank statements and asked why I took £10 out the cash point on that particular date

 

[MuddyMonster]

We bought two years ago as first time buyers - and went through a mortgage adviser and had no issues with me having a horse.

I was on DIY at the time and paid cash for livery and hay/straw but I don't recalll them questioning any horse related DD (like my insurance).

OH was worried but it was all fine. Good luck!

 

[Lipglosspukka]

I didn't mention any of my horse costs on my mortgage. Unless you have a standing order going out each month for livery which they could ask about, I wouldn't bother mentioning it.

It has no relevance anyway. A horse can be sold. You are not financially obligated to keep a horse in the same way you are obligated to continue to pay off a loan.

 

[huskydamage]

Thank you for the replies hopefully will make the OH feel better!
I dont think its that bad tbh but OH is very worried about the 'stress' test they do and the like.
I mean we don't even have children, imagine if we did can't say we could sell those ?

 

[sherry90]

Technically I doubt they’d ask/query it but it’s worth when you work out your outgoings generally to obviously factor them in and always have a ‘buffer’ because whilst you might fix at a low rate now always have some spare should they rise. Family member came out of a fixed rate at the time of the 2008 crash - the lowest rate at that time was around 10/12%!! They are around 2% now so always keep that in mind. But as for the mortgage application they only really want to know of other credit arrangements/debts so car finance, loans, credit cards, overdrafts etc.

 

[fiwen30]

Perhaps it would impact if you rented land/a yard, and were tied into a contract of x-years? Something contractually binding (like a hire purchase car) is a bit different to having a loan horse on DIY livery as a hobby. I’d speak to a mortgage advisor about it before progressing or writing the idea off.

 

[Prancerpoos]

From an objective POV, horses are a hobby and you could just sell them / PTS if you cannot afford them. Of course most bankers are not going to realise that for many of us that would be like asking us to dispose of our expensive children ?

 

[Translationsneeded1]

I was actually surprised I didn’t have to declare horses. It literally asked me how much I spent going out each month but not about hobbies (arguably you could give both up!) Anyway, it was a non issue 2 years ago when I did mine.

 

[Renvers]

I gave my horse-related expenses as part of the sports/hobbies/holidays declaration. My mortgage advisor said I was spending less on the horses than most of his clients on annual holidays.

Me too, it is a cost for a hobby. OH was a golfer, the hobby costs were comparable (some golf clubs cost more than an Albion SLK!!). Be honest on your outgoings, more so you don't overcommit than any other reason. But having a horse isn't in itself a reason not to lend you the money.

 

[lannerch]

From an objective POV, horses are a hobby and you could just sell them / PTS if you cannot afford them. Of course most bankers are not going to realise that for many of us that would be like asking us to dispose of our expensive children ?

That’s exactly how the banks consider it , I got a mortgage which was close to my limit as the bank disregarded the horse expense standing order of £530 a month in as unimportant as it’s an expense that is inessential and one you could in theory get rid of in an instance . (Except I would get rid of the house before that ever happened )

 

[RHM]

My mortgage lender wasn’t interested. Even when I mentioned it. As far as they were concerned the horses could be sold if necessary and didn’t impact affordability

This exactly, I’ve just got a new mortgage and they didn’t care.

 

[HuskyFluff]

I'm single income with a very obvious standing order to pay for livery on my bank statements, and the mortgage company weren't interested - they just wanted to know I could generally afford it with standard living outgoings

 

[Widgeon]

My mortgage provider was only interested in any debts/credit cards, any dependents etc. Horse didn’t even factor in to my affordability I guess because to them I’m not legally bound to carry on paying, I could sell!

Likewise - when we applied for our mortgage they didn't seem the slightest bit interested in the horse-related outgoings - it was actually our charity direct debits they were most worried about!

 

[Sossigpoker]

Only things that you cant stop paying for or not easily, like nursery bills or other borrowing will determine if you really can afford it or not. Yes they will count the horse expenditure in but they will know that if things get hard it is not an expenditure that you can't get rid of - like something like child support, nursery or other debt.