Find out all you need to know about a mortgage in principle below and how they work.
A mortgage in principle is a certificate or statement from a lender to say that ‘in principle, they would lend you a certain amount of money to purchase a property.
When you apply for a mortgage in principle, your lender will run a credit check on you to find out whether you are eligible to borrow from them and if they are happy to lend the amount of money you need. If you are interested in checking your credit history, find out how here. We always recommend our clients to get a mortgage in principle as it can help with the process of house-hunting. Estate agents often want to ensure that you will be able to obtain a mortgage on a property before you put in an offer.
We should remind you at this stage, that a mortgage in principle is not a mortgage offer or an official confirmation that you have a mortgage. To get an official mortgage you have to go through the full application process.
In order to get a mortgage in principle, you will need to approach a mortgage lender directly or speak with a mortgage broker such us Resolve Financial Solutions.
For a mortgage in principle, we would ask you for the following information so that we can share this with the mortgage lender:
- Your name
- Your date of birth
- Three years of address history
- Your income and expenditure
At this early stage, you can just provide this information to the lender however we always ask for supporting documents. We do this so that when you are ready to make your full mortgage application, we have the documents ready which can speed the process up.
We would advise our clients to take advice on products and lenders before you proceed with a mortgage in principle. Getting one can leave a footprint on your credit file.
How a mortgage in principle can help
Having a mortgage in principle will show that you can in theory afford to buy the property. This will make you a more attractive buyer.
The size of the mortgage in principle will also help you when it comes to search for properties. You will then be very aware of what you are able to borrow and what price range to search for a property.
We would always advise talking with a mortgage broker, like ourselves, to find out the best lender to apply to based on your personal circumstances. Use our mortgage calculator today to find out what your monthly payments would look like and please get in touch if you would like to speak to us about sourcing a mortgage in principle.
*Your home maybe repossessed if you do not keep up repayment on your mortgage. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Buy to Let Mortgages.