Your mortgage was declined. Here is what actually happens next.
A refusal from one lender is a decision by one lender, using its own rules on that day. It is not a mark against you that follows you around, and it is very often the wrong lender rather than the wrong borrower.
- Nothing you say will shock me. I have heard all of it before
- I will tell you if the answer is no for now, and what would change it
- No charge for working out where you stand
Why were you turned down?
Lenders rarely explain properly. Pick whichever sounds closest and I will walk you through what it means and who else might look at it differently.
Bad credit on your file
A CCJ, a default, or a payday loan from years ago that you had forgotten was there.
A missed payment in the last year
One late month on a car loan or a card is enough for some lenders and irrelevant to others.
Gambling on your statements
Regular betting shows up in an affordability check. It is not a moral judgement, it is a pattern.
Your partner’s credit, not yours
On a joint application the weaker file usually sets the terms for both of you.
How your income is counted
Self-employed, contract, bonus or commission income is counted differently by nearly every lender.
After the agreement in principle
The most common and the most frustrating. It was never a promise, and it is worth knowing why.
The part nobody explains to you
Every lender runs its own scorecard. They weigh the same facts differently, they change the weightings quietly, and none of them publish the rules. So two lenders looking at identical paperwork on the same morning can reach opposite answers, and both are behaving normally.
That is genuinely the whole explanation most of the time. It is often not that your application was bad. It is that it went to a lender whose rules it was never going to fit, often because it was submitted by whoever was nearest rather than whoever was most likely to say yes.
The second thing worth knowing: applying again in a hurry, to whoever will take the application next, is the single most expensive mistake people make after a decline. Each full application leaves a footprint, and a run of them in a short period reads badly to everyone who looks afterwards. Order matters more than speed.
Work out the real reason first, then approach the right lender once.
We find out what actually happened
Sometimes the lender will say. More often we work it out from your credit file and the paperwork you already have.
I match it to lenders who look at it differently
Several of them do not deal with the public at all, which is why you cannot do this part yourself.
We go once, properly prepared
With the explanation attached up front, rather than hoping nobody asks.
What people ask me after a decline
Does being declined damage my credit score?
The refusal itself is not recorded on your file. The application that led to it leaves a search footprint, and several searches close together are what does the damage. That is why the order of approach matters so much.
How long should I wait before trying again?
There is no fixed rule and anyone who gives you one is guessing. Sometimes the right move is a different lender this week; sometimes it is waiting a few months for a run of searches to age or for a lender's cut-off to pass. Which of those applies depends on the reason, which is what the phone call is for.
Will the lender tell me why?
Often only in general terms, because they are not obliged to explain their scoring. You can get your own report from the agency they used, and that usually tells us enough.
Can you promise the next one will say yes?
No, and I would be wary of anyone who does. What I can tell you is whether it is realistic, roughly what it will cost, and what would need to change if the answer today is no.
David and Donna give you a feel of care and support from the moment you meet them.Paul, London · A client for seven years