Credit and Mortgage, will I EVER get a mortgage? HELP NEEDED!!

alexsymm

Hello everyone,
Any advice would be REALLY appreciated!!!

I have recently applied for a mortgage through a broker (I think he just did a light footprint search) and was refused. It was a joint application with my partner who was accepted. I have my credit file, there are currently 4 settled defaults and 1 default which shows as outstanding, but was actually fully paid off in Feb 13. I have contacted the company and they have agreed it’s their error and they will update it as paid. I am not on the electoral register but have sent the form in to be registered and will be on there from 1stAugust. I have a current account with Barclays that was opened Feb13, I do not have an overdraft on this account and have never been in arrears etc. I also have a credit card with Capital one that I have had since May 2012 with no late payments or arrears, the credit limit is £200 but I have just received a letter stating they are increasing the limit to £400 due to good payment history. I also have a mobile phone with Orange that I have had since April 2010, they have recorded 1 late payment against me but I am disputing that as I do not think its correct, the payment came out via direct debit as usual on the usual date according to my bank. My basic salary is £20409, but with overtime my wage is roughly £32000. Below are the default dates of the accounts on my credit file.
November 2009 – Satisfied
September 2009 – Satisfied (on call credit but Equifax showing still as default)??
February 2011 – Satisfied
January 2010 – This is the one that has been fully paid off but the company hasn’t updated the records but are doing so now.

I also have a Halifax card cash account but this doesn’t seem to appear on my credit file for some reason. There are no arrears / overdraft and I have had this account for about 15 years I think. All the bills at my current address are in my name and there are no arrears or debt, also the rent is solely in my name and there are also no arrears or debt.

I had a CCJ years ago (can’t remember exactly when), but it was fully paid off and no longer seems to appear on my credit file.

My credit score with Callcredit is 453, Equifax is 426 and public (this appears on checkmyfile and it states the average for the nation is 750) is 733.

I am really looking for some advice on how to build my credit score, should I get another credit card so that I can have another account that’s being paid off to increase my rating or a catalogue or something? Also, do I need to wait for these defaults to come off my record completely after the 6 years before I will be able to get a mortgage? Or do you think once the account that is still recorded as default is cleared and I’m on the electoral register, I should be ok for a mortgage? Or can you give me some indication of how long you think I will need to wait before my score will be good enough for me to be approved for a mortgage? Just to let you know the house we are looking at is £160000 new build, we have £8k deposit and would be doing the governments new home scheme. Our combined income between me and my partner is £58k p/a.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated as I have no idea if I will ever be able to get a mortgage or not.

Thank you

ACG

- Stop applying for credit! - Thats the first thing.
- Sort out the problems that are on your report. Find out if they are mistakes or not and whether the companies involved will remove them.
- Get all 3 credit reports - equifax, experian and Call credit and then take them to a GOOD broker, not one who sits in the office on the new build site.

If im being completely honest, with a 5% deposit unless you get lucky i think you are going to struggle (i would expect more like a 15% deposit) in the main.

Income wise etc you will be fine but based on what you have said, if everything you have mentioned is showing on all 3 credit reports and its all correct then your credit reports are not great and it will take more than a 5% deposit to overcome those issues.