should i cancel credit cards to improve credit rating

united4ever

I intend to apply for a remortgage soon but I have quite a lot of credit cards and was wondering if i should cancel some of them...is this beneficial in terms of getting a mortgage (I also heard it can be good to have lots of available credit). Here's a breakdown.

Mbna £1900 balance 5000 credit limit
Tesco card £0 balance credit limit £9k
Amex platinum £0 balance £2900 limit
Halifax cc £4k balance £4200 limit
Halifax clarity card £0 balance £2500 limit
Amex corporate card £0 balance £3k limit-work card but seldom use
Capital one £100 balance £2500 limit (pay off in full each month)

The mbna and Halifax cc are both interest free for another year at least and I am working on bringing the debt down.

The Halifax clarity is more for holiday spends since its good for exchange rates. Amex platinum is good for shop small promotions. Maybe I should cancel the capital one but I could also cancel Amex and Halifax clarity if it will help matters.

Mortgage is up for renewal in September. If possible I would like to increase the mortgage to fund an extension. However I suspect that may not be impossible in which case it would be a big standard remortgage but I still want to get best rates. I am conscious that I have too many credit cards. Should I cancel some?

Superscrooge

Reducing your credit card debt before you apply for a remortgage is likely to have more effect than cancelling credit cards.

But any lender looking at your credit card use will see that you use credit responsibly. £5900 debt all at 0% and low % credit utilisation.

I think whether or not you can increase your mortgage will mainly be affected by affordability

united4ever

Yes, I am working on the debt reduction. Hopefully get it Dow some more before application time. In that case perhaps I will just keep all the credit cards for now. Thanks a lot.

DCFC79

Your credit rating isn't seen by lenders so don't worry about that.

united4ever

Thanks, I shall keep all the cards then.