Worried - moved house just before mortgage application

Alaska567

Hello,

Would be grateful for your help...

I've just had an offer accepted on a house after a long time searching. :j
I've been renting for a few years and had given up on trying to buy after several disappointments and decided to move flat to a nicer area and my new 6 month contract started 1 April this year. However I didn't actually move in until a couple of weeks ago because the 1 month's notice for my previous flat did not expire until end of April. Out of the blue this week I had an offer accepted on a flat I had previously lost out on which I'm ecstatic about, however I'm worried that my latest rented house move could affect my credit file and scupper my chance of getting a mortgage

I'm on the electoral roll for my last rented place and all my debit/credit cards, bank accounts, financial details, pay slips etc. are all still registered at this address. I had been at this address for about 1.5 years. Although I've told the council of my new address for council tax purposes (I was not on the council tax bill in my old place because this was in the landlord's name but i'm now paying it at my new place), I haven't yet asked them to update my new address on the electoral roll.

I'm planning to go with Halifax and apply for a new mortgage in principle this weekend (followed by full application) because my old one that I got a few months ago when I was house searching has now expired. I had checked my Experian file back then and there were no issues and I had a high credit score (and the MIP was given by Halifax). My worry is that when Halifax now do a hard credit search for the full mortgage application, there will be nothing linked to my current address that I've only lived in for a few weeks and this would lead to a decline :eek:

Does anyone know if my recent house move would affect my mortgage application at all?
And what the best way to go about this e.g. ask council to update my address on the electoral roll even though the update will not show for some time on credit agency files, and I will (hopefully) be moving again soon? My current rented house is in the same London borough (and therefore with same council) as my previous address where all my details are registered if this makes any difference.

I'm also unsure about what dates to put on the mortgage application form because there was a 1 month overlap between my current and previous rented houses. Even though my contract for my current place started 1 April, I didn't actually move in until 22 April. I am paying council tax period from 1 April so I'm guessing it makes more sense to put this date down as the date I started living in this address to keep everything consistent?

Many thanks in advance

Lilla_D

I've recently done an application for someone who moved house literally the day before the application was submitted - life happens. Don't worry about updating the electoral roll, as it won't go onto your record for 6-8 weeks. For my client's application I just had to supply proof of the new address (council tax bill, utility bill) and it was all accepted. Granted, it was with another lender, but I'm sure I could do the same with Halifax. By the sound of it you are going to directly to Halifax, so it may not be as smooth a process, but it should still be ok - as said, life happens

bobobski

Lilla_D wrote: »

Don't worry about updating the electoral roll, as it won't go onto your record for 6-8 weeks.

I will defer to the mortgage adviser re all the mortgage stuff, but don't forget there's a general election coming up

Alaska567

Thanks both for your replies.
I spoke directly to Halifax and they would not accept a utility​ bill etc as proof of new address instead of an electoral roll update because their credit scoring system is computerised and it would automatically red flag my new address doesn't match electoral records at full application. They advised I will have to update my address on the electoral roll and wait for the update to reach credit reference agencies before I apply otherwise it would affect my credit rating and there is no way around it.
I already know what mortgage product I want but had been thinking of enlisting the help of a broker to get round this electoral roll issue as it's ​the only thing affecting my application and will now cause a long delay but there doesn't seem to be any point now

Lilla_D

A broker can get round this issue with the help of their dedicated lender contacts. One of those things that you can't do yourself, but brokers can.