Use this guide if you plan to buy your first home in the next three to twelve months. Have recent payslips or accounts, bank statements and your credit report access ready. This is general information, not personal advice; a regulated mortgage adviser can recommend a specific product.
Step by step
Check and tidy your credit file
Get your free statutory credit reports from the three main credit reference agencies and check every entry. Make sure you are on the electoral register at your current address, correct any mistakes, and close old accounts you no longer use if they are not your oldest. Pay every bill on time from now on, and avoid applying for new credit in the months before your mortgage application. Lenders look for steady, well-managed credit rather than no credit at all.
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