Money News
There have been press reports claiming people are going online to purchase bogus payslips in order to boost their apparent earnings on mortgage applications. This is not just a crazy way to overextend your finances, it is also illegal.
Getting on the housing ladder is a steep climb. According to the Nationwide's affordability index the average house price has risen from £58,196 in May 1997 to £181,584 now. At the same time the ratio of the average price to first time buyer earnings has risen from 2.3 to 5.1.
But however desperate you are to purchase a property, lying on your mortgage application about how much you earn is not the way to do it. Do so and you are committing a criminal offence as well as potentially overstretching your finances at a time when interest rate rises are only going up.
You may not face prosecution if found out but you'll certainly lose your mortgage offer and your credit record will be permanently blemished.
One other point; house prices always rise, don't they? No, they don't ask anybody who got caught with negative equity in the early 1990s.
READ MORE: Don't tell lies on your mortgage application
01 June 2007 © Moneyextra.com
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