Published 11 November 2019 · Last reviewed 8 July 2021 · Older article — see current rates

Been declined for a mortgage due to credit conduct we can help?

Nationwide are the country’s largest building society and as a mutual company, they will always look to protect their members by running tight lending criteria. It’s their right and they are hugely successful at what they do.

With Nationwide declines, you normally have to wait three months before you can re-apply, and unless your circumstances have improved, you are likely to receive the same result.

Nationwide does not only look at obvious credit issues on your credit record such as county court judgments (ccjs), defaults, missed payments or bankruptcies they drill far deeper which may be the reason you’ve failed to make the grade.

So what they do that is extra:

• Credit score. This is a frontline screening process carried out by a computer. It provides merit and demerits scores for various aspects of your status. An example of a merit score would be a long time in your job. A demerit might be a small percentage deposit.
  
• Debt to income ratio. This is looking at the amount of personal debt you have acquired in relation to your annual income. This can count against you even if the debt has been paid on time.
  
• Personal credit limits. If you are close to your buffer on variable plans such as overdrafts or credit cards. For example, your Barclaycard has a £3,500 limit and you are £3,300 into it.
  I’m a professional Mortgage Broker and I can sympathise as know none of these say you are a bad person. There is probably a good explanation behind the credit position but when you are privileged like Nationwide they can afford to move on to the next customer.

The better news is we work with over eighty mortgage lenders and a good number of these do not run a credit score system, they have staff available to listen, and processes that can adapt.

So if you’ve been turned down by Nationwide and are looking for a resilient Plan B, without waiting 3 months, at a competitive rate why not give us a try.