My messy bank account situation - bad for mortgage application?

7sefton

Hi everyone

I'm hoping to buy in the next 6 months, and preparing for a mortgage interview.

Aside from all the horror stories I've heard, I'm a bit worried about how they will assess my spending. Not because I'm spending more than I earn or anything, but because I split my monthly financial activity across a number of accounts....

To maximise interest I get on my mortgage deposit, I have lots of current account (e.g. TSB's 5%, Lloyds' 4%, etc.). I cycle the required amounts around these each month to keep getting the interest.

My salary is paid into a Tesco current account, but all of my spending is done on an Amex Credit Card (for the cashback, balance cleared every month) or on TSB debit cards (again, for cashback). I transfer little and often across from the Tesco account to clear these 'debit card' balances.

And then I try to save as much as possible from my salary into various regular saver accounts.

The result is: I stay well within my means and make the most out of every penny, but I don't have 'one statement' that shows all my incomings and outgoings in near columns.

Is this a problem? It's taken me a lot of time and effort to work out such a tight system, but should I consider forfeiting all the cashback and benefits I squeeze out of the banks for the sake of clarity when it comes to my mortgage interview? Or will they understand?

Thanks for any advice.

csgohan4

The lender will generally ask 3 months statements from all of your current accounts so that will be covered.

The next question they will go to is affordability. Have you tried some of the MSE Calculators to determine how much you can borrow with your current expenditure.

teffers

Hi 7sefton.

I had a very similar concern and a similar setup. My salary into 1x account which then seeds another 3x savings accounts. Finally my 'spending' money is transferred to another account.

Lenders requirements will vary but mine asked for 6 months from my 'spending' account and 3 months from my salary / savings accounts.

I had no issues flagged up at all. I went through a broker so that may have helped.

Good luck :-)

Rambosmum

Shouldn't be an issue, so long as you have the funds to pay the mortgage they are offering you, which will be evidenced by your bank statements, all of them! and your salary.

Brown_Eyed_Girl

you should be fine. I had 3 accounts including one where i was holding some inheritance on behalf of another family member. All they did was ask me for 6 months rather than 3 months.

Basically it's going to mean you'll need to collect a lot of paper work from all the banks but it should be straight forward

TBeckett100

Halifax never asked for a bank statement.

lottie3000

I transfer money around my account, my joint account and my husband's also two credit cards which I use for cashback and I haven't had an issue getting a mortgage.

LJS2014

Hi 7sefton,

I was in exactly the same situation you described and during my mortgage interview I just explained that my salary was paid into one account then I bounced a certain amount of money each month round 3 different accounts to meet their requirements to get my interest. (Like you I use the TSB/Tesco ETC.) It didn't cause any problem at all and there were no further questions asked about it so I wouldn't worry at all. The lady even commented on how savvy I was with money! I did take statements for each account with me to back up what I was saying but the only statement they were interested in going through was my main account that my salary is paid into, they didn't want to see the rest.

Good Luck!

Mallotum_X

In the run up to buying, you could always simplify your approach.

Cut out unnecessary spending and have less cycling going through. Whilst its unlikely to be an issue, it wont cause problems if you have simplified things - even if that means you lose out on a bit of interest.

vic_sf49

I consider that to be an 'intelligent' banking situation rather than a 'messy' one.

I was in a similar situation in June, and it caused no problems. You can explain all your outgoings and transfers, and you'll just have a massive stack of statements to go through.

kingstreet

Most lenders are interested only in confirming the net amount shown on your payslips is the amount paid into your bank account.

Few actually give a stuff what your statements look like beyond that as they use ONS averages for outgoings; looking only for credit commitments, childcare costs etc.