Mortgages and credit rating

oli_ro

Hi,

we are considering buying our first house and I have just obtained the credit rating report from all the 3 agencies. We only lived in the UK for less than 2 years and have a clean record so far, however I scored around 770 with equifax, 560 with experian and around 600 with CallCredit.

I know its relative, but is this sufficient for a typical mortgage application ?

I also noticed that there are inconsistencies in the data they have about us between credit agencies:
- Experian don't have us as registered on the electoral roll at the current address, while the other 2 agencies have. What can I do ?
- None of the agencies have our telecom contract registered, can I write to the supplier to make sure they report the data ? (the contract with the supplied did show up in the past, but for some reason it stopped once we signed a new contract).

I am working and my wife looks after the kids. I have decent enough salary to qualify for the loan that we want, can I just apply in my name for a mortgage ? (this is because she has little credit on her name, which means that she has poor credit score).

That's all. (for now at least)

Thanks a lot.

suze_g

I got my report from Experian and it doesn't have my telecom accounts registered either. Not sure if they do.

Also it had stated I wasn't on the electoral register (leading to the Halifax refusing a mortgage last year.)

I called my local Town Hall to check I was definitely on there, and then called Experian and told them to check their records and make an amendment.

If your wife has no income it's probably better to apply in your name only but make sure your wife is registered as the joint owner of the house you buy.

herbiesjp

To amend/update your details you need to get in contact with the relevant credit agency and follow their procedures.

However, whilst lenders use the information to an extent you need to pass the lenders' own scoring systems - so the numbers you quote above are not necessarily going to indicate whether or not you will get the mortgage.

Other more important factors might influence your application like: which country you come from, and whether or not you have permanent right to reside or a long visa left.

Whilst you may think you can afford the mortgage on your own, a lender's affordability caluclaotor may disagree on the basis of you being the sole income earner and having to support wife and children, so they may agree a lower mortgage than you would expect.

Does she get tax credits or other benefits at all? I would look to keep her on the mortgage and utilise this income as well if possible.

I would go via a whole of market broker, as if you go direct to lenders and apply, and fail due to not meeting their criteria it could damage any other application you might make. A broker would check criteria before applying.

patchwork_cat

Your wife can put child benefit and any tax credits if you have them as her income.

oli_ro

herbiesjp wrote: »

To amend/update your details you need to get in contact with the relevant credit agency and follow their procedures.

However, whilst lenders use the information to an extent you need to pass the lenders' own scoring systems - so the numbers you quote above are not necessarily going to indicate whether or not you will get the mortgage.

Will write to the credit agency in question, thanks for the advice.

herbiesjp wrote: »

Other more important factors might influence your application like: which country you come from, and whether or not you have permanent right to reside or a long visa left.

I am coming from "a new EU country", so I don't need visa and I have permission to work here without time restriction. Does it matter a lot that we only came to the UK 2 years ago ? (heard somewhere that lenders are looking at the min 3 years)

herbiesjp wrote: »

Whilst you may think you can afford the mortgage on your own, a lender's affordability caluclaotor may disagree on the basis of you being the sole income earner and having to support wife and children, so they may agree a lower mortgage than you would expect.

Good point, thanks for making me aware of this.

herbiesjp wrote: »

Does she get tax credits or other benefits at all? I would look to keep her on the mortgage and utilise this income as well if possible.

She only gets child benefit, I am earning above the threshold for the tax credits.

herbiesjp wrote: »

I would go via a whole of market broker, as if you go direct to lenders and apply, and fail due to not meeting their criteria it could damage any other application you might make. A broker would check criteria before applying.

Again, very useful to know, thanks.

herbiesjp

oli_ro wrote: »

I am coming from "a new EU country", so I don't need visa and I have permission to work here without time restriction. Does it matter a lot that we only came to the UK 2 years ago ? (heard somewhere that lenders are looking at the min 3 years)

.

Some of the "new EU countries" have transitional arrangements in place, and as a result have different requirements in terms of what lenders will look for to meet their criteria.

Being part of the EU does not automatically mean having the same rights, unfortunately for some EU countries


Again, a good broker will help with this

Teach24

I was about to apply for a mortgage and got my credit report from Equifax and Experian. Both have differrent info and very different credit ratings. I have advised Equifax of this issue and it is a case of it will get sorted in due course. In particular they have incorrect Electoral roll info about me (even though this was changed last year with local office) and I have given them confirmation of this. Why can they not update it immediately? This is holding me back from buying a house. Why are the consumers the ones receiving the hassle when these companies are paid to retrieve accurate and up-to-date information? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks