Credit Check

seven-day-weekend

My son has been advised to get a credit card and use it so that he will pass the credit check for a mortgage (as he has never had any credit before).

How long will this take to show up on the credit check? If he gets the card tomorrow, uses it and pays it off next week, will this show up immediately? Or is there a minimum period of time, for example one month, required?

Thanks in advance.

HeavyHorse

I would say at least 6 months good, clean credit history. The longer the better really especially if its for a mortgage

seven-day-weekend

Thanks for your reply.

He needs the mortgage now. The mortgage guy knows this. He said to get a creditcard and use it, and then come back.

What other way can he pass the credit check?

HeavyHorse

credit agencies update their files on a monthly basis. I would be very surprised if any lender would be happy to lend based on only 1 months activity.

Other factors to be considered are LTV required etc

seven-day-weekend

The LTV is around around 60% i.e there will be £25K deposit on a price of £65k.

DVardysShadow

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

He needs the mortgage now. The mortgage guy knows this. He said to get a creditcard and use it, and then come back.

What other way can he pass the credit check?

Would not bother. The mortgage guy is a waste of space, because anything your son does now will not have a benefit until 6 months down the line. In fact knee jerk action now could be counterproductive because it begins to look like he is trying too hard to get a good credit score.

Is he on the electoral roll for the address where he lives currently? does he have a bank current account? does he have utilities accounts

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

The LTV is around around 60% i.e there will be £25K deposit on a price of £65k.

This backed by electoral roll, payslips and bank statements will look quite good. Don't overegg it. Anything you do now will make things worse in all likelihood.

seven-day-weekend

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Would not bother. The mortgage guy is a waste of space, because anything your son does now will not have a benefit until 6 months down the line. In fact knee jerk action now could be counterproductive because it begins to look like he is trying too hard to get a good credit score.

Is he on the electoral roll for the address where he lives currently? does he have a bank current account? does he have utilities accounts

This backed by electoral roll, payslips and bank statements will look quite good. Don't overegg it. Anything you do now will make things worse in all likelihood.

He is on the electoral roll, he has had a bank account for over fifteen years, he has Council Tax and water bills in his name. He also has a mobile phone on contract. His own bank have said he passes their credit score, unfortunately they will not lend on the property he wants to buy as it only has a 66-year lease.We asked a Building Society who will lend on the property but they said he had to get this credit card to get a credit score (they have not done a formal credit check).

BoGoF

You can't 'get' a credit score just by having a credit card. Whoever it is is talking nonsence, if they haven't done a credit check how can they know how they score him.

As has already been said, if he needs a mortgage 'now' then applying for a credit card isn't going to help at the moment.

seven-day-weekend

Thanks all for your input, he'll just have to see what the credit check comes up with .He has already applied for the credit card but it has not arrived yet.

DVardysShadow

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

He is on the electoral roll, he has had a bank account for over fifteen years, he has Council Tax and water bills in his name. He also has a mobile phone on contract. His own bank have said he passes their credit score, unfortunately they will not lend on the property he wants to buy as it only has a 66-year lease.We asked a Building Society who will lend on the property but they said he had to get this credit card to get a credit score (they have not done a formal credit check).

:eek::eek::eek:

Buying on a 66 year lease? This is not a 'can I get a mortgage' problem, this is a 'should I buy that property' problem.

66 years is a short lease and he should go to the housing forum on this site for advice. If he needs to sell, it will be even harder for him because the lease will be that much shorter.

Basically, it looks to me like his options for a mortgage are being constrained towards the less mainstream [= subprime] parts of the market. Not because his credit rating is poor - it would be quite good, I think - but because he is trying to buy a rubbish property, on grounds of the short lease alone, if nothing else.

Where did he find this clown of a mortgage advisor? I am guessing that it is the Estate Agent's own broker - who has the dubious task of finding mortgages for dodgy properties. As I see it, he has gone not just down market, but he has gone for his deal to the wrong side of the tracks.

Edit: NEVER use an in house Mortgage advisor from the Estate Agent marketing the property you are buying.

seven-day-weekend

We are going to extend the lease once he has bought it.

The mortgage advisor was not from the Estate Agent. He was from a Building Society and they will lend on leases down to 55 years.

It is not a rubbish property, it is a flat in a very popular development.

Thanks for your other advice though.