Want a Mortgage? Get on the Electoral Role!
When applying for a mortgage there are of course a few things that you should be doing straight away, before you even call up your lender.
So that I can continue, I am not a financial advisor and this does not constitute financial advice, it is for educational purposes. Do your own research!
Why then do you need the Electoral Roll for a Mortgage?
As we all know every mortgage lender needs to know they are going to get their money back. Just like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, any money you borrow you must give back.
You also know that getting money from a lender is not like getting it from mom and dad. They want to charge you a fee to use it until you give it all back or else they get a little upset. (And rightly so!)
The second port of call before calling your lender then (after checking your credit score and rectifying any errors – and yes you can have them rectified) must be to check you are registered on the electoral roll.
This is easily done and most can be done online now without too much effort.
The reason… quite simply, to be on the electoral roll you have to have a place that you are staying and say who you are you are in order to join!
That little piece of detail to your name is vastly important in applying for a mortgage because a lender can check that the council know who you are and know where you stay, and they can then continue their checks on your credit history and current income (or ability to pay back what you say you are going to pay back)
It is also a legal requirement of the United Kingdom that if you are over 16, meet the conditions for registering and are asked to register. If you don’t register you may face a fine.*
If you are not from the UK and you cannot get on the electoral roll, you will need some other forms of proof of who you say you are to satisfy your lender. It does make it far more difficult and the process gets longer and longer.
To find your local office to register with, go to Gov.uk link here and put your postcode it. Very simple to do. (For Glasgow City Council registrations visit this link)
It is at this point I should mention that the vast majority of time that a house sale takes to complete relates to lenders deciding if someone is worthy of a loan and then getting that money for the loan together.
If you want it to go smoothly once you find a house, get a little research done on what a lender needs to proceed and sort out all the finer details immediately. You will be in a far better position when you come to request a mortgage and it will go so much better.
As always, I would suggest using a financial advisor to deal with your financial matters. They are worth their weight in gold when they genuinely have your best interests at heart.
They can source a cheaper interest rate, favourable terms and help in organising your finances. That saving alone will cover their costs far more than you realise.
(Note: to first time home buyers, use a financial advisor, their job is to find the best deal for new home owners and you’ll be surprised what they can do for you. It’s a far bigger saving than you can imagine!)
- Find further information from Gov.uk Electoral Roll
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