Declined Agreement in Principle

Would a decline be based on a lender’s specific lending criteria?

It shouldn’t be if your broker has done their job by recommending the right lender for you. Obviously, if the criteria don’t fit, an application shouldn’t have been made in the first place. It shouldn’t decline based on that if you’re dealing with the right people.

Are lenders more flexible with First Time Buyers?

They’re not more flexible. They’re the same for anyone whose credit file is intact and fits their risk appetite.

It should be the same for First Time Buyers – although if you’ve got a long mortgage history where you’ve paid on time for the past six or seven years, that’s always a good thing. But for a First Time Buyer, as long as you’ve got good credit, there shouldn’t be an issue.

What steps can I take now to strengthen a future Agreement in Principle application?

It’s a good thing to get a credit card to ensure you’re attractive on a credit scoring level. You need to ensure you’re not missing any payments or paying late, and avoid County Court Judgements (CCJs) as these also affect your file.

You can get CCJs from unpaid parking tickets – and these are a common cause of mortgage application failures, in fact. People often don’t realise they have an unpaid parking ticket but it can have a big effect.

Would it help if I saved a larger deposit?

Yes, it helps as it reduces your Loan to Value. It’s less risk for the lender. So if your file is not as good as it can be, a larger deposit does help.

Should I consider a guarantor or joint application?

You could. You would both be credit scored in the same way, but it could help if you wanted to increase your borrowing. A Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage may be an option to consider.

Or, someone could help you with the deposit if they’ve got money available, and that might help bring the Loan to Value down.

Can I reapply soon after a decline or is there a waiting period?

Yes, you can reapply. It depends – if your credit file has improved, we can actually look at the same lender and try a Decision in Principle again. Or, we can actually reapply with another lender straight away.

We’ll look at the whole credit file to check whether it’s viable to reapply or if it’s best to approach another lender. With a Decision in Principle, most searches are a soft footprint on the file and won’t mark it, so it’ll be okay.

Can you suggest any tools or calculators to help First Time Buyers understand affordability?

The best thing to do is just come see us here at Brick2Brick. We’ll run through all of this, get the information from you to ensure everything is correct and get an accurate decision.

We deal with nearly 100 lenders and we can check them all at once to find the maximum mortgage amount for you.

You’ve demonstrated there how a mortgage broker can help. Have you got anything else to add?

As always, just contact us here and we’ll run through everything with you. We’ll find out how much you can borrow and guide you through all the way to completion – the day you move in.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP WITH YOUR MORTGAGE REPAYMENTS.