advice for becoming a first time buyer

mosphaiti

Hello all, i recently turned 22 and have decided that i need a plan in order to get myself a place, rather than renting which i currently do.

I've never owned a place before, so i will be a first time buyer and want a few tips if possible to enable me to get a place in a few years time.

Currently with my wage, I'm going to be able to put £200 a month aside to savings, as well as this i have a shares scheme of which i pay in £100 a month approx. i know shares can go up and down, but lets just assume for now that it will remain the same price.

This then is £300 a month, and over 3 years, i should amass in the region of £10,000. I'm fortunate enough to have parents who have some money aside, and have offered to give me £10-15,000 for a deposit. So potentially in 3 years i will have £20,000 for a deposit.

The issue i have now is my credit rating.

My current credit score is 576, however that is for my old address, so no doubt its lower for my current one.

I've never had any ccjs or disputes or anything, its just a lack of being given credit.

So my current plan is, with the place I'm renting at the moment, to get on the electoral roll, which i have applied for, and switch my bank and credit card to this address.

I currently have a contract mobile with o2, which I've never missed a payment for 4 years, as well as this, i have finance for a computer with barclays over 10 months, of which i have 3 months left, again never missing a payment.

I have recently applied for more credit however have been declined.

Im wondering what can i now do to improve my credit, any tips? is paying off credit card fully a really good one?

thanks!

tom

Thrugelmir

Hi welcome to the board,

Consider opening an account with a local building society and saving regularly.

Building societies are far less automated in terms of credit scoring. So take a far more personal approach to each application.

By saving regularly you can demonstrate your ability to meet a regular committment i.e. mortgage in the future. This is more beneficial than worrying about a credit score.

opinions4u

mosphaiti wrote: »

Hello all, i recently turned 22 and have decided that i need a plan in order to get myself a place, rather than renting which i currently do.

Great.

Currently with my wage, I'm going to be able to put £200 a month aside to savings, as well as this i have a shares scheme of which i pay in £100 a month approx. i know shares can go up and down, but lets just assume for now that it will remain the same price.

Sound thinking. Could you squeeze a bit more out by way of saving? Have a read of some of the things on the Debt-Free Wannabe part of this forum.

This then is £300 a month, and over 3 years, i should amass in the region of £10,000.

I like the way you round down. It suggests a prudence in budgeting.

So my current plan is, with the place I'm renting at the moment, to get on the electoral roll, which i have applied for, and switch my bank and credit card to this address.

Major positives.

I have recently applied for more credit however have been declined.

Im wondering what can i now do to improve my credit, any tips? is paying off credit card fully a really good one?

Get on voters roll. Pay all your bills on time. Build up a savings balance with your bank (assuming rates are reasonable). Don't apply for any more credit for 12 months. In a year, apply for a credit card with your bank. Use it for normal expenditure. Repay in full and in time every month.

Good luck!

(Loving the mature common sense approach you have)

BKAT_9

Hi, I may be talking rubbish here as I havent worked in banking for quite a while however I was under the impression that there is no 'credit score' as such - every institute has different criteria and so NatWest will label you with an entirely different score than HSBC even when applying for the same product. I wouldnt get too focused on your credit score, you need to look at the content of the credit report and as you say you have not defaulted then this should be fine. You already have a phone contract and a credit card so I wouldn't have thought the lack of credit would be a massive issue to you right now. I think the main problem is that you were not registered on the electrol roll. I know when I worked in credit this thing alone would deny an offer of credit regardless of how good your credit rating was/how much money you had coming in (I had to turn down a footballer once for a mortgage becasue of this!)

I think you just to be get your house in order - meaning just make sure everything is re-registered to your current address, ensuring this is in order may be the key? (and as previous poster suggested try not to apply for any further credit until this is sorted)

GOOD LUCK!