Looking for a Fresh Start? Haysto’s Here to Help!

Meet Malcolm

Malcolm’s a 55-year-old engineer from Antrim, Northern Ireland. A father of two boys, Malcolm separated from their mother six years ago and has been renting ever since. It’s fair to say the last few years have been a bit tricky for Malcolm, both personally and professionally. Having had a solid career track record up until around 2023, since then, the outlook became much more unstable, moving from job to job, and culminating in redundancy at the end of February 2025.

As a result, two or three regular payments were missed and his credit score - something Malcolm always kept on top of - dipped. Feeling quite despondent, Malcolm’s dream of owning a home again seemed exactly that.

Rather than feel sorry for himself and sick of having to pay £650 per month to live in a property owned by somebody else, Malcolm decided to take control of the situation. Using funds available to him as a lump sum from his pension, he was able to pay off all of his outstanding debts. Soon enough, his credit score improved, and there was still plenty of money available for a mortgage deposit.

Desperate to set down his own roots while leaving a legacy for his two boys, and aware that this was likely his last chance, Malcolm spotted an opportunity to speak with Haysto through our relationship with Experian. A choice between staying put or making a move wasn’t a choice at all. It was now or never!

How did we help?

When Malcolm first spoke to his Mortgage Advisor, Max, he immediately put him at ease about the thorny issue of his recent credit score woes: “Don’t worry about it, this is a blip in your journey. We can work around this, no problem.” And Max was right.

Assuming, due to his missed payments earlier in the year, that he’d have to settle for a 3rd or 4th choice lender if he was going to realise his dream of homeownership, Malcolm was over the moon when Max came back to him with an Agreement In Principle (AIP) from Barclays Bank. Armed with his AIP (from a mainstream lender, no less!), Malcolm went straight into search mode, soon finding the perfect property, and managing to get a great price accepted for it.

Before moving on to the most important step, applying for a formal mortgage offer from Barclays, Max weaved a little more of his wisdom. This was twofold: first, he advised Malcolm to use enough of his cash funds so that his loan-to-value (LTV) remained below 60% and second, to set his mortgage term at 14 years to avoid any sticky questions from the lender about how he’d afford the repayments beyond his retirement age of 70. 

With his application now submitted, Malcolm expected a nervous wait of at least a couple of weeks, with the possibility of the odd awkward question or further information request from the lender along the way. Any such concerns were well and truly squashed when Barclays confirmed its offer acceptance in just two days! 

With his mortgage now in place, complete with a competitive 5-year fixed-rate deal from one of the UK’s most respected banks, all that remained was for Malcolm to complete the property purchase formalities and make his dream move a reality.

What Malcolm says

“What Haysto have done for me is fantastic. The service I’ve received from the whole team has been amazing from start to finish. They made me realise that a blip in your finances shouldn’t mean the end of your dreams. But what impressed me the most was that they always put me first. It was all about securing what I wanted and needed. Also, the team’s goal was never just ‘we’ll get you a mortgage’. It was always about getting the whole package, and one that suits my purpose. That includes all of my life insurance, income protection and house insurance needs.

I can’t thank Haysto enough for how they’ve helped me along this journey - and at breakneck speed! I had £82k available and ready to go. With funds there to help, I had nothing to lose. What I thought would take weeks was all over in a couple of days, and with Barclays, too. There’s no way things would have moved so quickly if I’d used a local broker.”