# Mortgage application checklist (UK)

From MortgageExplained.co.uk. Free to print and share. This is information, not advice: a regulated mortgage broker advises on your actual case.

## Stage 1: before an agreement in principle

- [ ] Check your credit report with all three agencies (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) and fix errors
- [ ] Register on the electoral roll at your current address
- [ ] Work out your true budget: deposit, monthly payment you are comfortable with, and buying costs
- [ ] Gather your documents (see the documents checklist): ID, bank statements, payslips or SA302s, deposit evidence
- [ ] Close or reduce unused credit where sensible; avoid new credit from here on
- [ ] Decide whether to use a broker or go direct (a whole-of-market broker sees more than any one lender)

## Stage 2: agreement in principle (AIP)

- [ ] Get an agreement in principle: a lender's indication of what they might lend
- [ ] Check whether the AIP used a soft or hard credit search (soft is common; ask first)
- [ ] Use the AIP amount to set your realistic property search range
- [ ] Remember an AIP is not a guarantee: full checks come later

## Stage 3: full application

- [ ] Offer accepted on a property; instruct a solicitor or conveyancer
- [ ] Choose the actual product (rate, term, fees) with your broker or lender
- [ ] Submit the full application with all documents
- [ ] Lender runs full underwriting and a hard credit check
- [ ] Lender values the property (desktop, drive-by or physical valuation)
- [ ] Consider your own survey on top of the lender's valuation (the valuation is for them, not you)
- [ ] Answer underwriter queries fast: speed here saves weeks
- [ ] Do NOT change jobs, take new credit, or move money around unexplained mid-application

## Stage 4: mortgage offer

- [ ] Mortgage offer issued (typically valid for 3 to 6 months, lender-dependent)
- [ ] Check every detail on the offer: names, property, rate, term, fees
- [ ] Solicitor completes searches and raises enquiries
- [ ] Buildings insurance arranged to start from exchange of contracts
- [ ] Review the contract with your solicitor, agree a completion date
- [ ] Exchange contracts and pay the deposit (you are now legally committed)

## Stage 5: completion and after

- [ ] Solicitor draws down the mortgage funds and completes the purchase
- [ ] Collect the keys
- [ ] Solicitor deals with stamp duty (SDLT in England and NI; LBTT in Scotland; LTT in Wales) and Land Registry
- [ ] Set up the mortgage direct debit and note the first (often larger) payment date
- [ ] Keep the offer and completion statement somewhere safe
- [ ] Diary the deal end date now: start comparing 3 to 6 months before your rate ends

MortgageExplained.co.uk · Owned and operated by Muswell Rose Ltd. This is information, not advice. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.