Rejected for credit card. How long should I wait before applying for a mortgage?

wombleking

Hello,

FTB here. I anticipate needing a mortgage that is about 4 times our salary and we have a healthy deposit so that should be straightforward hopefully.

The only problem is that one month ago we changed a current account to Santander 123. It gave us a small overdraft. A week later we tried to open the associated Santander credit card too. Primarily just to maintain a good credit score and save a few quid on petrol.

But it rejected us. I think the only reason for rejection would be two credit requests in a short space of time. We didn't regard the overdraft as a significant credit request but it must have been.

Now obviously we're not going to bother applying for the credit card again but being rejected might affect our mortgage.

We want to buy a house at the end of this year but do we need to wait the full six months or will three months from the rejected credit card suffice?

I know this is a crossover of credit score and credit cards so apologies if not quite in the correct thread.

Thanks in advance.

cakeforbrains

wombleking wrote: »

Hello,

FTB here. I anticipate needing a mortgage that is about 4 times our salary and we have a healthy deposit so that should be straightforward hopefully.

The only problem is that one month ago we changed a current account to Santander 123. It gave us a small overdraft. A week later we tried to open the associated Santander credit card too. Primarily just to maintain a good credit score and save a few quid on petrol.

But it rejected us. I think the only reason for rejection would be two credit requests in a short space of time. We didn't regard the overdraft as a significant credit request but it must have been.

Now obviously we're not going to bother applying for the credit card again but being rejected might affect our mortgage.

We want to buy a house at the end of this year but do we need to wait the full six months or will three months from the rejected credit card suffice?

I know this is a crossover of credit score and credit cards so apologies if not quite in the correct thread.

Thanks in advance.

Which one of you applied for the credit card?

Have you seen copies of your credit reports from all three CRAs (Experian, Equifax, and Call Credit)?

wombleking

My partner applied.

We used the Experian free trial when we saw the rejection and all is positive except for the two credit applications mentioned.

Haven't seen Equifax or Call Credit.

In the rejection letter Santander said they use Experian.

cakeforbrains

Somebody who knows their stuff will be along in a minute, but, in my experience, it's not that usual for one credit request to be denied simply because you'd made a credit request recently. Maybe if you'd made several, then yes.

It seems to me that there might be something else going on with your credit histories. Are you both on the electoral roll? All addresses and names correct? Any financial associations? Sometimes adverse history, such as an Arrangement to Pay (AP) can show up in a neutrally on Experian even though it's bad.

Or maybe Santander just didn't want to lend any more based on your income(s)?

wombleking

Both on electoral roll. All addresses and names correct. No financial associations.

So we think all is ok except for the rejection.

I guess it's possible that Santander didn't want to lend but a £3.5k credit limit for someone earning £20k doesn't seem outrageous?

Their rejection was pretty unhelpful. It didn't specify the reason, just said it refers to credit agencies including Experian.

We're not too fussed about not having the credit card. It wasn't really needed. But the rejection itself is the problem.

What we're trying to avoid is applying for a mortgage in say one month time. Getting rejected because of the rejected credit card and then having to wait a long time again for that mortgage rejection to clear!