Teachers building society, as you can probably guess by the name, is a specialist mortgage lender who offer loans for teachers and other professionals in education. Recognising that mortgages for teachers in some cases could be tricky, Teachers B/S was founded in 1966 to tap into the niche market and to help accommodate the weird and wonderful ways that education professionals are employed and paid. Just this morning, Teachers B/S sent out a communication to brokers to remind them of what they offer.
Why Is It Important To Have A Lender Who Specialises In Mortgages For Teachers?
To an outside person, you would assume that a teacher’s employment contract and salary would be fairly straight forward. You get employed at a school, paid to teach during the day, and then you go home right? Well actually it can be much more complicated than that and when it comes to doing things like getting a mortgage, it can be tricky with some lenders.
The first thing to understand is that most people who enter the education industry (teachers, learning support assistants etc.) will actually go through a lengthy training and learning process before being classed as a fully qualified teacher. In most cases, when you first start teaching you will be classed as a newly qualified teacher. This just means that you have completed your education and qualifications to become a teacher, but you will still need to get the experience and training of actual teaching.
Newly Qualified Teachers
Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) are usually placed on a year long contract but could be longer, where they learn how to teach first hand. They would also normally be on a lower salary than a fully qualified teacher with the salary increasing once they have completed their NQT year.
Teachers will often, like medical professionals, take on extra teaching or extra hours such as secondary teaching jobs, teaching jobs in other schools alongside their main employment, extra hours for after school clubs and learning sessions etc. So their income is not always black and white.
Why Might A Teacher Struggle To Get A Mortgage
In most cases mortgage lenders want applicants to be in a permanent, fixed, stable job with some experience or work history. For NQTs, this is not entirely the case. NQTs are technically on a 12 month contract with no guarantee that they will have a permanent job at the end of the period. They have also likely been at university prior to this NQT year, so they will not have any experience of working in the industry prior. To many lenders, this would not be acceptable and will require an applicant to have completed their NQT year before being able to proceed.
Some lenders would also have issues with any extra income, extra classes, afterschool coaching etc that a teacher might earn. If it is not consistent or a guaranteed amount or changes from week to week, some lenders would need to see at least 12 months worth of payslips and bank statements to confirm the amount of income received. For newly qualified teachers or teachers that have only recently taken on extra work, this is impossible to provide.
Contracts And Supply Teachers
Another big issue that education professionals run into when it comes to mortgages is people who are contracted or are supply teachers. Because of the contract element of the work and the perceived inconsistency of the work, many people doing contract or supply work are not accepted by lenders. With the view that a contract is not fixed, can be cancelled at any time, is an unstable form of income, and can’t be accurately calculated for affordability.
How Do Teachers Building Society Help Secure Mortgages For Teachers?
On their website, Teachers B/S provide a 6 point breakdown to sum up specifically how they help education professionals to secure mortgages, in ways that other lenders don’t or can’t. Here is what their website says:
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- Affordability. Houses are really expensive. We know in many towns and cities taking even a first step on the ladder is a challenge. That’s why we lend teachers up to 5 times their joint salary.
- Mortgages for those with small deposits. We know that saving up a deposit is really hard. Often applicants are in private rented accommodation, and paying for a place to live whilst saving to buy is a really tough ask. That’s why we ask for a minimum deposit of just 5% to borrow from us.
- Mortgages for those with a new job? We can lend to teachers based on a job offer – we don’t need to see extensive employment history. For ECTS (NQTs) we treat 12 month initial contracts as a permanent role. In fact, we can even lend to ECTs (NQTs) before they start work, so you can move in before your September start.
- Career progression is taken into account. Because we’ve been focussed on lending to teachers exclusively since day one (which was way back in 1966) we understand how teacher pay ranges work and where salary rises will lead you as your career progresses. So we take that into account when calculating what we can lend you.
- Exclusive access to our best rates. We save our best (lowest) mortgage rates exclusively for teachers. That’s it, no tricks or twists. You get the best of what we have on offer.
- Mortgages for contract/supply teachers. Providing a service that is vital to schools shouldn’t exclude you from being a homeowner. We lend to teachers on contracts and those in supply roles (with two terms evidenced employment in area you’re buying).
How Do I Get A Specialist Teacher Mortgage?
That’s simple. Speak to a mortgage advisor who has exclusive access to Teachers Building Society. Through our mortgage network, Oportfolio mortgages can help teachers secure mortgages with lenders where other banks and brokers can’t. We have access to all products and mortgages that Teachers B/S offers and we are experts in securing mortgages for teachers. If you or someone you know is working in education and are struggling to get a mortgage based on how you are employed, give our team a call today for a free initial consultation. We are here to help.
