Credit card balance transfer and mortgage application

AG07

I will be applying for a new mortgage in the next month or so (actually most likely porting my current mortgage but it sounds like all the credit/affordability checks are the same). I also have around £2,800 left to pay off on an 0% interest credit card. The 0% interest period ends in the next week so usually I would transfer this to a new 0% interest card to save interest charges. However, advice is always not to open any new credit cards when you’re about to apply for a mortgage, but then advice is also not to pay interest if you don’t have to and to show you can manage debt. I can’t pay off the remaining balance at the moment so I wonder what is best to do? Open a new card to avoid the interest and show that I can pay the monthly amounts, or leave the current card and keep paying smaller amounts and accept the interest for a few months until mortgage completes. Any advice from people in the know would be appreciated. 

lfc321

How marginal is your mortgage application in terms of affordability, your credit record etc?
The advice to not take out new credit cards close to a mortgage application is good general advice, but doing so won't affect everyone equally. For someone who would normally fly through the application process, taking out a new card may not be a problem. For someone whose case is more marginal, it could be the thing that tips them over into a decline.
Depending on your lender, it is possible that they may make paying off the balance a condition of the mortgage.

kingstreet

The advice is not to apply for anything requiring a hard credit search between agreement in principle and completion. It may tip a borderline pass to a fail or take an accept at 95% to an accept at 85%. We can't say how negatively any particular application may be impacted but we can definitely say there will be nothing positive!