Application Declined

The Mortgage Application Process – common reasons why an application may not be accepted

When you apply for a mortgage, we’ll assess your application according to our lending criteria. We’ll look at information on your credit report, your application form, any supporting information you provide and any other relevant information. This will help us decide if you are able to afford the repayments. We may also look at whether you could still afford the repayments once your introductory rate ends when the interest rate may increase.

If we’re unable to proceed with your application we will contact your mortgage broker and explain why. There may be some instances where we are unable to provide a detailed explanation but if you’re able to resubmit an application with us in the future, we’ll let your mortgage broker know.

There are several reasons why we may not accept a mortgage application. Here are some of the most common reasons:

: As part of the application process we will carry out a search of your credit records through a Credit Reference Agency (CRA) called Equifax. If your credit record shows additional credit commitments, late payments, defaults or arrangements with other financial institutions that you have not already told us about, it could lead to us being unable to proceed.

CRAs also share information with us to help us detect and prevent fraud. If an application is found to have invalid or unverified information, or there are suspicions of fraud, money laundering or other criminal activity, a lender may pass the applicant’s details to a fraud prevention agency such as Cifas. Your credit record will include a flag if the fraud prevention agency receives a notification. This may affect the outcome of an application.

Further details of the other CRAs and how they work, the data we receive from them, and how to obtain a copy of your credit record are provided in our Privacy and Fair Processing Notice. If you think the information in your credit record is incorrect, you can ask the CRA to correct it. To find out what information Cifas holds about you, you can apply for a Data Subject Access request from their website at www.cifas.org.uk/contact-us
: When applying for a mortgage, you'll need to prove your identity and insufficient evidence of this could result in your application not being accepted. Being registered on the electoral roll, for example, would be a way of making it easier for us to confirm your identity and where you live.
: If you are unable to provide acceptable evidence of an adequate source of income, we won’t be able to proceed. As a responsible lender we must be confident that you have enough income to afford your mortgage repayments.
: Some properties have non-standard legal arrangements, construction types or structural problems that are unacceptable to us. If the property doesn’t meet our security criteria we may not be able to lend against it, although we may be able to lend against a different property. Your mortgage broker has access to information on our security criteria.
: If your mortgage application is incomplete or contains inaccurate information, it may not be accepted.

These are some of the most common reasons why we may not accept a mortgage application. It's important to note that all lenders have their own criteria for approving mortgage applications, and you may still be approved by a different lender. Your mortgage broker will be able to provide further information on this.

You can find more information on mortgage applications on the MoneyHelper website.