What Credit Score do I Need For a Mortgage? 

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Regular Income

Good Bank Account Conduct

Debts

Deposit

Associated Partners

Leave it to The Professionals

There is no exact credit score that you will need to be approved for a mortgage, lenders use their own more in-depth information for underwriting.

It is important to understand that lenders will have their own credit score data on you, and they do not solely rely on your credit score. Mortgage lenders have access to much more information than you or I can see and will use this to make their lending decision.

It is possible to get declined for a mortgage with a perfect credit score as there may be something else in the background causing a problem. Alternatively, you can have a poor credit score, meet lenders’ criteria, and get accepted for a mortgage.

The good news is that there are lenders that we work with that specialist in bad credit mortgages which are specifically designed to help clients with impaired credit.

There are only a small number of credit references in the UK, and we are lucky to have a referral relationship with a company that checks all three and presents the data side by side for you to see everything.  You can get a copy of your credit report today.

There are several things you can do to improve your credit score and chances of being accepted for a mortgage, these are: 

Regular Income

Having a job where you receive regular income helps increase your credit score and will increase the chances of you being accepted for a mortgage.

Good Bank Account Conduct

Staying within your agreed overdraft limits, paying your direct debits on time, not having excessive gambling, and avoiding pay-day loans will also improve your odds of getting a mortgage. Getting a mortgage with CCJs or missed payments is more difficult than those with clean credit. 

Debts

If you have an elevated level of credit card or personal loan debt this can lower your chances of getting a mortgage. Car hire purchase or lease payments can also have a significant impact on the amount you can borrow. If you are already a homeowner and are looking for debt consolidation remortgage options, we can help with this also. 

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Try Checkmyfile and obtain a new copy of your credit report. We can use this document to work out how likely you are to be approved for a mortgage.

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Deposit

The more deposit you have, the better, having a large downpayment on a property will solve many issues with credit score.  This also applies to equity in your property if you are looking to remortgage.  The lower the loan to value ratio is the lower the risk to your lender that they will get their money back in the event of a repossession. 

Associated Partners

If you are looking for a joint name mortgage then it is important that both parties are looking at their credit scores as you will have a financial association together. Having a financial association with a person with bad credit can negatively affect your chances of getting a mortgage. 

Leave it to The Professionals

Often, clients who suspect that they may have problems getting a mortgage have tried various banks themselves, causing lots of unnecessary declined credit searches. This impacts your credit score further and the lenders will see all the declines on your file. Leave it to the professionals, an experienced mortgage broker will have in-depth knowledge of lending criteria and aim to place your application with the right lender for you first time.