Current account with mortgage provider?

Jezzabell

I'm planning on switching mmy current account and trying to decide who to go with. I'll also be looking to get my first mortgage in 12 months or so and was wondering if its beneficial or not to have a bank account with possible future mortgage provider, I'm specifically thinking about Halifax.

I'm in the position now to be able to vastly improve my finances so want to do whatever I can that may help my mortgage chances in the future. I'll also be looking to open a help to buy isa shortly.

Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Super_Whiskey

It doesn't matter too much. Lenders can credit search you to determine whether they're willing tolend you money. If you think Halifax offer an account which benefits you then go for it but don't feel obligated to!

colsten

Where you have your current account is not likely to have any influence on what mortgage deal you get. You should be researching both of them independently and pick what's best for you in each category. If they are both at the same firm that's just a co-incidence.

The Halifax Reward account is interesting in that it can pay you £5 a month, and they are currently paying £100 if you switch your current account to them. You can easily get the monthly fivers without switching to them.

There are other accounts that pay interest, e.g. at TSB, Nationwide, Santander. Some also have switching offers, and Santander offer cashback but the account has a monthly fee.

It's perhaps best if you sort out your mortgage before you apply for any new current account as there could be an unwanted effect on your credit history from the search the bank will carry out.

Jezzabell

Thanks for the responses. I've got a very basic bank account at the moment as was all I could get 10 years ago when I had debt problems so I'd like to get a normal current account now that I can and all of that is behind me. As it will be likely be 12 months before I apply for a mortgage its probably a good time to do it now. I thought I'd ask on hete to see if there were any positives or negatives of using the same provider.

I'm considering all the accounts that are offering incentives as I don't tend to keep a high enough balance to bother with interest paying accounts, it all flows in and out

Kernel_Sanders

Have you applied for a credit card? Paying this off in full every month should help you get that mortgage.