The report
A document written to be read closely
A mortgage capacity report is only useful if the reasoning behind the number can be followed and, if necessary, challenged. Ours is structured so that a solicitor, a barrister, the other side, or a judge can see exactly how the figure was reached and which assumptions it depends on.
Anatomy
Section by section
- 01
Instructions and scope
Who instructed us, on what terms, and the questions we were asked to address. Where we have been given a letter of instruction it is identified and, where appropriate, appended.
- 02
The party and the evidence relied on
The individual the report concerns, and an itemised list of every document read, with dates. Anything we asked for and did not receive is recorded here, together with what difference it makes.
- 03
Income
Basic income, and the treatment of overtime, bonus, commission, shift allowance, self-employed profit and any other variable or discretionary element — with the market's approach to each explained rather than assumed.
- 04
Commitments and outgoings
Credit commitments, childcare, dependants, and maintenance paid or received. Maintenance is dealt with separately and at length, because it is usually the largest single variable.
- 05
Term, age and retirement
The maximum term available on the evidence, the effect of intended retirement age, and where a shortened term is the binding constraint on the capacity figure rather than income.
- 06
Deposit, equity and the property
The capital position, the loan-to-value implied, and any property characteristics that would materially restrict the lending available.
- 07
Credit position
Where relevant and evidenced, the effect of the party's credit history on the borrowing available — stated as an effect on capacity, not as a credit assessment.
- 08
Methodology
How the figure was arrived at: the affordability approach applied, the basis of the stress applied, and the reason for the range where the market does not converge on one answer.
- 09
Assumptions and limitations
Every assumption stated openly, so the reader can see which of them the conclusion is sensitive to and what would change if the assumption changed.
- 10
Alternative assumptions
Where the instruction asks for it, the same analysis run on an alternative set of facts — a different care arrangement, maintenance level, deposit, property or term — presented alongside the primary conclusion.
- 11
Conclusion
The capacity opinion itself, expressed as a figure or a range, with the reasoning summarised so it can be lifted into a position statement.
- 12
Declarations
Our status, our qualification, the basis on which the opinion is given, and the express statement that the report is not regulated mortgage advice and not an offer of finance. On a Part 25 report, the statement of truth, the declaration of no conflict of interest, the range of opinion and the overriding duty to the court.
Methodology
Why the number is a range more often than it is a point
Lenders do not agree with one another. Two lenders looking at the same payslips, the same maintenance order and the same three dependants can reach materially different conclusions, because they stress affordability differently, treat variable income differently, and take different views on how long a maintenance obligation has to run before it counts.
A report that gives a single confident figure without explaining that spread is hiding the most important thing about it. Ours does the opposite: where the market does not converge, the report says so, shows the effect, and explains which characteristic of the party’s position is driving the divergence.
What the report deliberately does not do
We assess potential borrowing capacity by reference to lending criteria and affordability methodologies across the mortgage market. Individual lenders and mortgage products are not identified or recommended. That maintains a clear distinction between an assessment of mortgage capacity and regulated mortgage advice, which we do not provide.
It is a boundary that makes the report more useful, not less. A court is not deciding which lender a party should approach; it is deciding whether a settlement can be implemented. What matters is how the market as a whole would treat this person’s circumstances, and where within it the answers diverge.
The report is also not a decision in principle. We do not make applications, do not obtain agreements in principle in a named party’s name, and do not introduce anyone to a lender or a broker.
How mortgage capacity is calculated goes through the arithmetic in more detail.
What the report is
- An impartial professional opinion on borrowing capacity
- Reasoned from stated evidence and stated assumptions
- Prepared for use in family law proceedings
- Capable of being tested and challenged on its own terms
What it is not
- A mortgage offer, or a guarantee that any lender will lend
- A decision or agreement in principle
- Regulated mortgage advice
- A recommendation of any individual lender or mortgage product
- A property valuation
- Legal advice
See it for yourself
Request a specimen report, prepared on entirely fictitious facts, and we will send you a copy. request a specimen report.