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Applying for a mortgage - Before I apply, should I get a credit card to help my score?

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Hello,

I am starting to look for a new property and hoping to move into a house within the next 3-6 month.

The only negative on my credit score is that I do not own a credit card.

As I am looking to apply for a mortgage soon, should I get a credit card now, or is it too late? Will applying for a credit card just put another negative on my file without providing any benefit? Or should I just bite the bullet and get one and hope in the short to medium term I get a better credit history from its usage?

Regards,
Ged

Comments

  • K_S
    K_S Posts: 6,877 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    @gedkirkham When I used to work in London, I've done many FTB mortgages for clients who had no credit cards or loans and just a couple of bank accounts at most. As long as you have a sufficiently lengthy credit history, whether you have one credit card or not is very unlikely to have any material impact on your chances of getting a mortgage.

    I am a Mortgage Adviser - You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. 

    PLEASE DO NOT SEND PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.

  • K_S said:
    @gedkirkham When I used to work in London, I've done many FTB mortgages for clients who had no credit cards or loans and just a couple of bank accounts at most. As long as you have a sufficiently lengthy credit history, whether you have one credit card or not is very unlikely to have any material impact on your chances of getting a mortgage.

    Thank you. So do you think it would be a negative to get a credit card now?
  • K_S
    K_S Posts: 6,877 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 28 January 2021 at 3:45PM
    K_S said:
    @gedkirkham When I used to work in London, I've done many FTB mortgages for clients who had no credit cards or loans and just a couple of bank accounts at most. As long as you have a sufficiently lengthy credit history, whether you have one credit card or not is very unlikely to have any material impact on your chances of getting a mortgage.
    Thank you. So do you think it would be a negative to get a credit card now?
    @gedkirkham I hesitate to categorically term it a 'negative'. But if you are applying for a mortgage in the next week or two, the hard check from the credit-card application may have an impact on the automated "credit-scoring" that mainstream lenders do as part of the application. But any longer than that and it's unlikely to have any significant detrimental impact. I hope that makes sense.

    I am a Mortgage Adviser - You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. 

    PLEASE DO NOT SEND PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.

  • Carl2510
    Carl2510 Posts: 535 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Me and my partner started looking for a property in Jan 2020, she got a credit card out in Feb having never owned one. And we applied for a mortgage in October. Wether it helped or not I doubt it.
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