Can I boost credit score by temporarily halting the stooze?

lightbeans

A year ago I had an excellent credit rating, then got into stoozing and it plummeted to 'very poor'. I have since stopped any credit searches which had (as of last month) brought it back up to 'good' - around 930 on creditexpert.

Now, I'm going to be applying for a new mortgage in order to move house this summer. It'll be much bigger than my current mortgage and I'm worried about not being accepted. I have 2 credit cards still open, virgin and the BT card at about 18k between them.

So......... Is there a chance these 2 cards could impact my chances of getting this new mortgage, and if so should I pay one or both off now? If I pay them off is it possible I'll jump to 'very good' (as I was a year go)?

If not I could do with keeping the money to help continue my matched betting and helping spread cost of stamp duty etc.

Joe_Bloggs

When I was given my Nationwide mortgage they did so on the understanding that I paid all the stooze money back within a month. Later I took out a Nationwide credit card with 0% on balance transfers and stoozed that money in their own savings accounts.
I would not be caught stoozing if I was applying for a mortgage today.
J_B.

opinions4u

lightbeans wrote: »

So......... Is there a chance these 2 cards could impact my chances of getting this new mortgage

They could certainly impact the amount any lender will consider advancing to you.

and if so should I pay one or both off now?

I would. Relatively soon, although you might want to squeeze a few more 0% weeks out of them. But do so a month or two before applying for your mortgage. Sooner rather than later.

If I pay them off is it possible I'll jump to 'very good' (as I was a year go)?

It's possible, but I'm not promising!