The electoral roll stopping us getting a mortgage!

Rbradders

My Partner and I have tried to get a mortgages in principle but this got rejected, upon checking our credit reports, the only thing pulling it down was that we had not been on the electoral roll for long. We have both been on the electoral roll at our respective addresses since we were 16 so 5 and 6 years. How can we improve this? We both have perfect ratings other than that with no missed payments and very few, if any credit checks. Help please!

Edi81

That doesn't sound right. As long as your electoral register information ties up with your time at each address then that can't be the reason for the decline.

Do you have credit at any other addresses? If you've even temporarily moved out of the parental home and set up a credit agreement there then that would indicate that your address history isn't the same as what you declared.

How long have you lived at your current address? How many other addresses have you had?

Rbradders

23 years and 21 years respectively, I got a shared tenancy away from this address for 12 months when on a placement year but can not see any evidence of this on my report. So confused as to why this would apparently have such a big impact...

dunstonh

What is the real reason for your problems? (electoral roll is not the reason)

Rbradders

What is the real reason? I do not know, neither of us have ever had credit cards so no problem with re-payments here, we both have had car finance , mine was fully settled and never missed a payment, my partners is outstanding but also has never missed a payment, we both have secure well paid jobs and nothing else is visible on our credit reports bar "The limited amount of time you have been on the electoral roll is bringing down your score, the longer you have been registered at an address, the less impact this will have". We have done our credit check with Noodle Finance and have ok against our banks every month since we opened them, no ccj, no links to others or other addresses, the only visible checks on my partners account are about 15 checks from car insurance companies... this must have a limited impact right?


Thank you for taking your time to read this.

dunstonh

Have you seen a mortgage broker? If so, what have they said? If not, then perhaps you should.

Rbradders

We saw the bank and then cancelled the broker visit after not being able to get the mortgage in principle with the bank. We went home expecting to see something that was on our credit reports in error so wanted to correct this before seeing anyone else. We can not see what could be wrong so will now go and see a broker. Thank you for your time, will go and talk to a broker soon and see if they can clarify things.

Fluffi

15 checks for car insurance companies seems high, over what time period were these checks.

Also credit cards are useful tools for building up a credit rating by paying them off every month you demonstrate that you can manage money/credit/debt, although you say you've had car finance so that should have helped a bit.

Who have you applied for mortgage(s) in principle with?

Rbradders

Car insurance quotes over 2 years, we did not realise this even involved credit checks as only one policy was taken out each year. We realise that having credit cards and paying them back effectively is a good thing but we kind of got stuck in the trap of not wanting to apply for credit too soon before our mortgage. (It was not that long ago that we realised that living within our means with out the need for credit cards could have an adverse effect on our credit score) HSBC are the bank we have looked at so far.

KMMT

My husband & I are on the electoral roll but not showing as such on our credit reports. We used a broker & got a letter from the council confirming that we are on the electoral roll & we have just been give a mortgage offer. We had to submit this paperwork with the mortgage application & it has all worked out ok. We are just waiting to exchange & complete.

Edi81

Car insurance quotes are "soft" searches that are only to confirm identity.

HSBC? Stick around on here and you'll see that they are one of the stricter lenders. Get yourself a whole of market broker (not one from an estate agents).