Mortgage Credit Scoring

lolly3fh

Whilst saving up for a deposit; we've begun checking our credit reports. I've been checking mine for years as it was VERY POOR (I know why; silly silly me) but now it's gone up to FAIR. I know it's a slow process and needs a lot of hard work so I didn't expect to be any better than that just yet. His is only FAIR, even though he ticks all the right boxes and doesn't have any late payments or many credit accounts. I don't have any lates left on my report.

I know this is only one scoring agency, but FAIR to me doesn't sound very positive in a time where mortgages are already hard to come by.

Is FAIR all that bad or has it been known to ever lead to a successful application?

Not that I really want to go down this road because of interest rates etc but are there really any non-scoring lenders out there?

kingstreet

The "scores" from CRAs mean nothing and are a waste of money. Lenders use their own systems and the data they get from CRAs forms only a part of that and these numbers/ratings are not part of what lenders use.

There are non-scoring lenders out there, yes.

GMS

The data in the report is more important than the score.

Are there any missed payments, defaults, CCJ's etc?

lolly3fh

Nothing like that on his, and only one late payment on mine from 2010. His is more "age of credit account" ie he's had his credit card for only 5 years.

Thanks to both for the advice on scores vs data, good to know!

ACG

Forget the score, go further down and look at where it has green/amber/red - the more of amber and read and the more recent they are the bigger deposit you will need or the more like you are to get rejected - thats kind of the rule of thumb.

lolly3fh

Anyone who was following this, even though I have a 5 year old default of £126... I was accepted this morning by Halifax!
Hard work does pay off, stick at it peeps.

kingstreet

"Mortgage Promise", or full application?

If the former, Halifax has form for accepting at DIP but declining at full app as the adverse, particularly if historic and at a previous address, doesn't show up on the soft search.

Be careful. It may be fine, but don't go chucking money at fees, until the full app has been submitted and accepted.

lolly3fh

Hi Kingstreet,
It's through the Help to Buy agent, we're using him to as out broker too, he informs me we've passed Halifax's credit check rather than just a soft search. Appreciate the advice, I know it could go wrong between now and then, so we'll be vigilant, I'm not paying any fees until it's all confirmed.
Thank you

kingstreet

The Help To Buy Agent is a Government appointed body with the contract to administer HTB - EL applications. It may have a panel of advisors. It does not provide mortgage advice, nor arrangement services. Whoever is assisting you with your mortgage is more than likely a mortgage broker who may have a connection with your builder, if sourced that way.

As I said, if this is at DIP stage, only a soft search has been carried out. If at full application and you have passed the full score, your card will have been debited with the cost of the valuation fee, as this is instantaneous.

Have you checked your account to see?

lolly3fh

Interesting... Thanks for this. He said we had passed the credit check, he'd done that instead of a soft search (he knew about my default).
He is the HtB agent, but he's a broker too, so will search the board of lenders associated with HtB.
He did say he WILL be doing the full application, they haven't had any monies from me yet. I understand more now, so I'm still very happy... But cautious too.

lolly3fh

Nope; I've got it now: he's the broker recommended by the HtB agent, it's all coming clear!