Hi Auroracase... I got a mortgage on my Phd stipend with a 10 percent deposit about 4 years ago. One of my main motivations for doing the PhD was to get a mortgage as previously I was freelancing and it is impossible with an irregular income. I found a few high street lenders willing to lend to me, but when it came to assessing the property they wouldn't lend. This was because the house I could afford was in pretty bad condition (no kitchen and unusable bathroom) but I suspect they may have started to quibble at this point anyway.

I managed to resolve this issue by using the estate agents' mortgage adviser, as he was highly motivated to get me a mortgage and had a position of trust with lenders. I would have assumed beforehand that it was a bad idea to use him, and would result in me being ripped off in some way, but now I would recommend this approach to buyers in a similar position.....He succeeded in getting a mortgage through with one of the lenders who originally baulked at the house....

...and then I spent a year doing up the house instead of my PhD, causing me to run over by a year and I have only just completed. But I would absolutely do the same again, because my mortgage costs half the amount a nasty bedsit would in rent in the area where I live.

Good luck!