NewStats: 3,262,883 , 8,178,454 topics. Date: Tuesday, 03 June 2025 at 10:28 PM 6y2725

Hello All, we completed our mortgage application last August. The house came with solar s managed by 'Good Energy' but it has been back and forth with the change of ownership of the solar s. Good Energy, requested for a signed letter confirming sale from the solicitors. The solicitors(ONP) gave us the letter but refused to sign, claiming that they do not sign such letters and that they only use letter heads.

We haven't been able to take ownership of the solar s as Good Energy refused to change their stance as well. Has any one experienced something like this before? What can we do please?

@lexus @ticha

babajeje123:

What's your council tax like? It appears as if Durham Council tax for new builds is extremely high.

£180 per month sir.

lightnlife:
Nice! Thanks for sharing.

You guys in the North are enjoying ooo.

Yes o. We earn less though. 😀

babajeje123:

We'll soon be neighbours

Wow Babajeje! We will be looking forward to welcoming you. 🙏

lightnlife:
Congratulations 🎉

May the property be peaceful.

If you don't mind me asking, What's the location?

Peterlee - Northeast

This thread has been of immense help to me. I want to appreciate the contributions of all 'elders' lexus, semmyk, Ticha etc.

We got our keys on Friday 30th August and moved into our house on the 31st. We maxed out our LISA contributions and deposit was 14k.

Thank you as always Ticha.

Ticha:



Answer all questions from a behavioural perspective.
The questions will be along the lines of; Give us an example of when you have …. Or the team/ the role does …. Give an example of

Your responses should follow the STARR format
Situation – This was happening, we had a project, my employer needed…
Task – The team was asked to…I was the project manager and part of my remit was to…
Action – I took these steps (lay out the steps, who you worked with, who you collaborated with) What, Where, How and What. Tools you used, skills you utilised (link to job and person spec)
Result – Use numbers, facts, figures, data (impact to the team, org and project
Reflection – What would you do differently next time? Why – Link to impact on team, org and project

Use ‘I’ statements rather than we or the team.

Find the Trust values and objectives (will be on their website) and work them into your Action/Result/Reflection responses.

Emphasise collaboration, seeking and providing guidance/ direction, taking initiative, requestion and taking onboard from stakeholders.

Band 6 is the first rung of leadership in the NHS so have that in mind when planning your responses – how you show leadership. Think of leadership styles (collaborative being the best)

Read up on the NHS People Plan as well. Aim to spend about 5-6 minutes on each question. You’ll get between 6 and 9 questions. Do some rehearsals so your responses flow well.

Take time to think through your responses. Make and take notes with you.

I always ask for the questions to be printed out and handed to me for a face-to-face interview so ask. It helps to remind me of the points I need to hit. I now as a rule print out interview questions for all applicants when we interview.

Good luck and go smash it!

Hello All, I have a practical test and an oral interview for a Band 6 Senior Information Analyst role at one of the NHS trusts coming up. Any pointers as to what to expect will be appreciated. Thanks

Ticha:


That's shocking behaviour from the broker. Absolutely go with another broker.
PS - why do you need a broker? Unless there are some kurukere movements in your credit and personal history, you can go directly to your bank (if a mainstream bank)

Thank you as always Ticha. No kurukere o. We got 85% LTV with Barclays but we can only afford 10% deposit hence the reason for resorting to a broker. We are 2 years 4 months in the country and we are on work visa.

Hello All, We submitted our mortgage application through our adviser late last month. She found a lender and informed us that the application was successful. The lender also visited the property the following week to do their valuation. We then waited for some days without any from the mortgage adviser. Meanwhile, we have engaged a solicitor recommended by them already and we have paid for searches to be carried out on the property. After a week, we were informed that the lender found a combined loan in our credit history that was not declared during application. We have nothing like that and we submitted our credit report from the three credit agencies(TransUnion, Experian and Equifax). After a lot of back and forth, she confirmed they made the mistake of adding this combined loan during application and that they will review with the lender. Almost two weeks gone and there has been no positive news from them. She said the lender is not willing to go with the initial 90% LTV. We asked that she should look for another lender but she is reluctant claiming she want underwriters to go through the credit history, so that she can push with the same lender again. We think she is only wasting our time as we are sure the lender will not change their position on the matter.

Is it okay to cut ties with this mortgage broker and start afresh with another company please? Thanks as always.

Lexusgs430:


Simple.... The mortgage adviser receives a commission......😂

Thank you Boss.

Elders, please what should one look out for when considering house insurance qoutes?

The qoute from the insurance company that is recommended by the mortgage adviser is higher when compared to the qoutes I got from moneysupermarket.

Jamesclooney:


This is awesome! Sounds ridiculously cheap. More info please. Is it for a new build, old house or derelict house needing renovation? I’ve got a friend that turns around cheap BTL properties in Liverpool, but not heard of opportunities like these in Nort East. Please shed more light. Thanks

It’s an old house with a new kitchen, garage, etc. Solar s installed already so we can economise our electricity bills. Search for houses in Peterlee. It’s a village/town compared to big cities like Sunderland though.

Dharmie02:


That's good. Houses in South Shields are expensive then.

Yes. South Shields is more of an urban area compared to our side.

LaXxOnebody:
Ah nice!

You should buy a mansion! The houses out there are bigger and have more space.

Im further north in Newcastle.

Yes oo. It is a 4 bedroom house we are getting for 140k.

LaXxOnebody:
Go on the Barclays website and search mortgages then request for a call-back from a Financial Guide, you'd be able to have 1 option in that.

What part of the North East are you in?

Okay Boss.

Near Sunderland. Peterlee precisely.

jedisco:


This is rather steep

First is your mortgage advisor able to search the whole market or just a select lenders? They should tell you this.

Secondly, the two main issues which affect your mortgage rate outside the Bank of England base rate (which you dont control), are your LTV (what percentage cash you have) and your term (fixed, variable e.t.c)
BOE rates are likely to fall over the coming years. At the max of rates hikes, 6% was considered steep. If locking in now, I'd target much lower

Many folks on visas use Barclays. Even their 90% ltv is well below 6%
https://www.barclays.co.uk/mortgages/fixed-rate-mortgage/

On a wider note, as a first time buyer, you have the advantage of not paying stamp duty in most cases plus help to buy bonus. The advice is usually to buy asap but this may not fit everyone. If your rent is reasonably priced, and you're both in stable jobs, sometimes waiting a bit to build your deposit so you can go for a good house in a nice area with good prospects for capital appreciation. In every town, there are parts to avoid and no need buying only to start planning a move in 1-2yrs. Reason I say this is because a mortgage of 126,000 (except you have a good deposit) is unlikely to give you a good place in most parts of the country.

Thank you Boss. We are in the North east hence the 126k.

Mortgage Advice.

Hello Elders, we are on tier 4 presently. Our visas will expire next month. My wife and I both work with the NHS and we are expecting our COS any time soon. We clocked two years in the UK in February and we started viewing properties in our area.

We maxed out our savings with moneybox. We recently saw a property we love and started the process with a moneybox mortgage adviser. He sent us this qoute:
• The lender is Skipton Building Society
* The mortgage loan amount is £126,000
* The rate is fixed for 2 years @ 6.19%
* There is no lender arrangement fee to pay
* The mortgage term is 25 years
* The mortgage is on a repayment basis
* Your monthly mortgage repayments are £825.66

Is this reasonable or we should wait and switch our visa to Tier 2(probably this month end/early May) and retry if we can get a better offer/rate please?

seunoj:

Have you tried the option of using night bus(coach) and arriving London say 8am. Use the public transport to visit fun places and book return ticket for bus. Just thinking
If driving, u can consider visiting Thorpe park. Just check their site to see if such environment is for u

Thanks Boss, that was what I did when I renewed mine earlier in the year. I just want the kids to be a bit comfortable for the journey hence the reason I chose to drive.

Hello Elders, I plan driving to London from the North East for the port renewal of my wife and 3 kids.

We intend going a day before the appointment and then lodge at an hotel or airbnb. To avoid all the ulez, red zones, blue zones issues around central London(I drive a 2013 Citroën c4 hatchback), I'm thinking we should look for where to lodge in the outskirts of London. We can then get a bus or train early morning on the day of the appointment to the high commission. We also want the kids to visit one or two fun places in London before we return to our North. 😀

Elders, that have done this in the past, what's my best bet and which areas of London can we get an affordable accommodation for one night. Thanks as always.

hustla:



Ill take the adult mental ones tbh

Those ones have seen it all and are more likely to have a structured routine / more independent and less likely to "cause trouble"

Thanks as always Boss.

jum33:

Adult are much peaceful and easier to handle, it very easy to get caught up into safeguarding issue with the under 18 and they always push boundaries which u means ur guards must never down at any point in time

Wow, Thanks

rayralph:


You need a thick skin to work in under 18 mental health hospital. Set boundaries and be professional with them always ‘cos they can be quite manipulative and deceitful.

There’s older adult, over 65 - similar to care home.

Young Adult, 18 - 65 - is quite okay but don’t forget to be professional always.

Thanks as always.

Hello Elders, for those that have experience with NHS mental health hospitals, which one is better between the under 18 mental health hospitals and the adult mental health hospitals please? I have an opportunity to take up an offer as a nursing assistant at any of the two. Thank you.

MichaelUde:


I don't clearly, but there is an option to simply select "Outside the Uk" or "Overseas", something like that and either input an address or not and move along. Look well, it definitely wasn't a problem when I did it.

Okay. Thanks

Viruses:

Select address outside UK and fill. That won't require postcode to be mandatory.

Thanks.

teeebest:


Hello Elders, I am stuck at this stage of applying for provisional license online as well. There is a compulsory place on the form to enter postcode. Since that is not applicable for a Nigerian address, I could not proceed. I have only stayed in the UK for 7 months.

Please what can I do?

I had believed applying for provisional drivers license on gov.uk is straight forward until now o. Any information on how I can go about it is appreciated.

Yemite1845:
Please I’m stuck while filling form for provisional drivers license,it’s requesting for 3 years proof of address, I’ve not spent up to a year in UK ,how can I get that ….urgently help please …. Thanks

Hello Elders, I am stuck at this stage of applying for provisional license online as well. There is a compulsory place on the form to enter postcode. Since that is not applicable for a Nigerian address, I could not proceed. I have only stayed in the UK for 7 months.

Please what can I do?

TheGuyFromHR:


NHS Band 3 pay is certainly not peanuts, unless care homes have suddenly started paying what City firms pay?

It's about £22k or so (and set to go up somewhat by a few percentage points after the latest round of strikes/threats of strikes) and single people and people with t family incomes live comfortably on such pay. that whichever job you get you're most likely going to start climbing the ladder from the lower rungs and these are the pay bands you will be offered.

But you're way more likely to get sponsorship with a care home than with the NHS Band 3 role. On the other hand, virtually no such thing as "career growth" with a care home, they generally sign you up for five years to do the core work of personal care. Thereafter you can do other things, maybe, but in the NHS you'd have jumped by 2 bands in that period.

If she's comfortable with the care home, then nothing wrong with her staying and asking them for sponsorship.

Straight and clear as always. Thanks Boss.

semmyk:
I don't know how the NHS band 3 pays. If it's marginal to care job, you might want to consider criticality of funds to you as a family at the moment; especially if owo is the ko ko (money na di tin)!
If your concern is settlement in this country or career growth, you'll have to check other factors and weigh up.
- will she be goings mainstream into Nursing
- does it matter which pathway of healthcare she follows as a career: Care, Nursing, others
- will those be critical when you're done studying and start working in your profession
- will you both be pursuing professional career
- is ILR a 'project must have' or you're not so keen so long you get by in the UK or 'jakpa' to other 'safe' haven or move back (9ja) to live big

Alongside status (to live in the UK), does the NHS pension makes any difference to you: AFAIK, NHS pension is one of the best (well, the academic will punts their annulation)

The dynamics for care job might change in the next year or so. That of nursing might follow the same upward trajectory #pay #mobility #dignity
Read discourse regarding possible intervention in healthcare in page 538.



Above are not exhaustive factors. You'll need to consider your personal circumstances, aspirations. All the best.
Ki Oluwa kọ gbogbo wa mọ ṣe.

Àmín. Thanks

kode12:


Personally, I'd stay let her stick with the care job that pays her more. With the rising cost of living, you're going to need all of that income. NHS Band 3 pay is peanuts regardless of where you live in this country.
She can continue working the care home job, and looking for other openings with higher pay. It's not worth sacrificing much better pay now for sponsorship especially where there's a possibility of getting same a few months down the line.
Those with sponsorship right now what are they doing with it? (Y'all don't come for my head please). Enjoy the pay now, who knows if she's a great worker and the care employer is in dire need, they might sponsor her there as well. At the end of the day it's choosing between short term (sure)benefits and long term (uncertain) gain. At the rate the country is going, by the time you're done on a tier 4 visa, you might already be looking at mission japa part 2.

Okay. Thanks

Hello Elders, please is there any advantage working for NHS as a band 3 Nursing Assistant?

My Wife works with a care home. She work as many shifts as possible depending on what are strength permits. We are also looking at healthcare sponsorship as she's comfortable with the job and I'm the one studying on tier 4 visa. Now, she got a Job with NHS as a Nursing assistant. She can only work for a 37.5 hrs per week.

When it comes to settlement in this country or career growth, please is it worth it for her to move from the private care home to NHS despite earning less?