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How Long Does a Mortgage Application Take?
A mortgage application generally takes from two to six weeks in the majority of cases.
However, that’s quite a wide window and doesn’t include the many other parts of the process.
Here’s an outline of the broader property-buying process, from mortgage application to move-in date.
- Gathering Information: Varies, but in your hands
- Mortgage in Principle: 30 minutes to a few days
- Finding a Property: From a few days to three months
- Full Application: One to three weeks
- Valuation and Survey: One to two weeks
- Mortgage Offer: A few days
- Conveyancing: Two to six weeks
- Completion: One to two weeks
*If you're buying a property that's part of a chain, i.e., the seller is waiting for their own new property purchase to go through before selling to you, then it really can take a lot longer!
Let’s take a look at getting a mortgage application in more depth.
And to speak to an adviser at any point to fast-track your mortgage application, please get in touch.
The Mortgage Application Timeline in 8 Steps
Step One - Gathering Information
Applying for a mortgage requires you to pass some of your personal and financial information to the lender. It is best to gather this all in advance so you are ready to provide it when asked.
In the modern world, digital copies of the information are often used, so it is useful to have PDF or photos of documents as well as the originals.
These include:
Proof of ID
Proving your ID is essential. This should be photo ID if possible, and has to be up-to-date as an expired passport, for example, cannot be used.
The most common forms of ID used are passports and driving licence which are instantly accepted and easy to reference. If you don’t have either of these, then other forms of ID are acceptable but may take longer to process.
Proof of Address
Your proof of current address needs to be recent, typically dated within the previous three months. You can use:
- Bank statement
- Council tax bill
- Utility bill, such as electricity or gas, but not a mobile phone bill
- HMRC letter
Deposit Provenance
For fraud and money laundering protection, it is essential that your mortgage provider is able to check where your deposit has come from.
If you have saved for your deposit, then you will be able to show the progress of those savings through bank statements (which should be in your name and show your address). If there have been any significantly large deposits into a savings account, then you may need to explain and show evidence for these in turn.
If your deposit is a gift (from a parent, for example), then you should get the benefactor to write a signed letter or an email explaining the gift and clearly mentioning whether it is repayable, forming a debt between you, or non-repayable.
In some cases, the mortgage lender may wish to see providence from your benefactor, going back another step.
In some cases, your deposit will come from another source, such as the sale of a previous property or significant asset, or a bonus payment for work done. In these examples, you should have relevant paperwork available to indicate the legitimacy of the source.
Income
You will need to provide your income information, which typically includes:
- Payslips - If you are in PAYE-based employment, the last three months will be required to prove your salary.
- SA302 form - Self employed people will need the past two years of SA302 forms (available online from HMRC) to show your income. Lenders will be willing to discuss your circumstances if your recent income has increased since your last tax return.
- Certified accounts - For self employed people, this is a statement from your accountant that confirms your income and financial commitments.
- Bank statements - Three months of bank statements for your current account will be wanted to corroborate the information, plus statements from any other relevant account.
- Details of any other income - This may be from shares, pensions, or any other income source.
Outgoings
Lenders are also keen to see your outgoings to ensure you have the personal cash flow needed to afford the mortgage repayments. This is typically provided through your most recent bank statements.
Step Two - The Mortgage in Principle
While it takes time to get the full mortgage, the same is not true of the mortgage in principle (MIP), a non-binding estimated early mortgage assessment that allows you to go shopping for a house.
The MIP is not a guarantee that when you do the full mortgage application that you’ll get the mortgage, but it’s a good guideline that starts the process.
Because it is likely that your final mortgage will be with the lender you choose at this stage to offer you a mortgage in principle, it’s important that you look for the best deals right from the off!
Using Clifton Private Finance as your mortgage broker will give you access to the widest range of mortgage providers, as well as advice from our specialist mortgage team. Contact us early in the process to make sure you don’t miss out on the best rates.
The MIP is calculated rapidly, usually without a hard credit check (though this depends on the lender), simply by analysing the information your provide the lender. For this reason it is extremely fast and we can often get a MIP within an hour!
However, because it’s based on the data provided, it’s only as good as that information. If you stretch the truth a little and exaggerate your position, you’ll be able to secure a mortgage in principle, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get a mortgage that matches it.
We definitely do not recommend doing that, as rather than providing a fair and reasonable estimate of your purchasing power, it will put you on the wrong track and lead to disappointment.
The best thing to do with a MIP is to use the system as intended and provide the most accurate information available. That way, your MIP properly reflects the amount you can realistically afford, and the chances are great that when it comes to the full mortgage application you will get what you expect.
Step Three - Finding a Property
Your mortgage in principle will be valid for 60 to 90 days, depending on the lender, which gives you two to three months to find a property within your budget.
This can be one of the most time consuming parts of the process, because it comes down to so many factors, including the property market, your personal preferences, and also the interference that comes from other buyers snapping properties up while you’re thinking about them.
It can take anything from a few days, to the full three-month stretch of your MIP to find the right home, but it can be fun and done with confidence, with your MIP giving you the confidence to make an offer on a property.
Step Four - The Full Mortgage Application
The full mortgage application happens once your offer has been accepted and is the bit that forms the basis of that ‘two to six weeks’ we quoted at the beginning.
It’s at this stage that you submit all the documents you prepared in the first stage - your lender will use these to assess your financial situation. It’s good to remain engaged and available, as the lender may have further questions or need to see other documentation.
It’s when making the full mortgage application that you are engaging with the mortgage underwriter. It’s the underwriter that does the risk assessment for the lender, delving into your credit history and income and ultimately makes the decision on your mortgage. Underwriting is time consuming, and is the reason for the time involved in this stage of the process.
Step Five - Property Valuation and Survey
It’s important for the lender to undertake their own valuation survey on the property to make sure that it’s worth the money being asked for it.
As the property forms the collateral for the lender, acting as the security that they can sell on to recoup costs if you fail to pay your mortgage, they want to make sure it hasn’t had its value miscalculated or inflated.
This is also the time when you should have your own structural survey done, to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the property that is going to be costly later on. A comprehensive survey is optional and will be an additional cost, but is extremely important and we always recommend it is done.
The lender’s valuation normally takes less than a week, though your own independent survey could take a little longer to arrange.
Step Six - The Mortgage Offer
With the survey done and the underwriting completed, if everything is in order then the mortgage proceeds quickly. Your lender will give you a formal mortgage offer, which outlines the specifics of the mortgage including:
- The amount of money the mortgage provider is lending
- The interest rate
- The term of the mortgage (for example, two years fixed rate)
- Any fees
- Full terms and conditions
You will have a few days to review the mortgage offer and accept it.
Step Seven - Conveyancing
Conveyancing is the technical term for transferring ownership of the property and is handled by a specialist solicitor known as a conveyancer.
They deal with all the legal paperwork, including the local authority searches, contract exchange, and fund transfer.
There’s a lot that happens here, which makes this stage time consuming and often frustrating for you as a buyer, with your new house feeling so close!
Other delays can occur if there’s a complicated chain and you’re left waiting for someone else to sort their own conveyancing issues.
Keeping on top of the conveyancing by regularly communicating with the conveyancer is important and can help make sure things move forward, but often it’s just a case of waiting until everything is in order.
Step Eight - Completion and Moving In
Finally you reach completion. This is when the mortgage has been paid to the seller and you are officially the owner of the property. You get the keys and can move in.
Congratulations! Your new home awaits!
How to Speed Up Your Mortgage Application
While a lot of the process is out of your hands, there are ways you can cut down on the time it takes:
- Be ready: Having all the documentation and information available in advance will speed the process along. Good financial and household management will mean you have most (if not all) of the documents needed quickly to hand.
- Use a professional broker - At Clifton Private Finance, our experienced team are incredibly efficient and able to help you move your mortgage application without any unnecessary delays.
- Choose the right lender: Some lenders are faster than others, especially if you are dealing with specialist circumstances. We can help you select a lender with a reputation for speed.
- Ask about the property chain: If you want to avoid delays at a late stage, avoid properties that are part of an extensive property chain. Sometimes the perfect property becomes a lot less enticing when a snag in the chain two or three links up builds delays stretching into months.
- Choose your timing: Property buying is a seasonal business, with the demand for surveys and conveyancing services at their peak in the spring and summer. Buying your house in winter can often move more smoothly.
Fast Mortgage Applications with Clifton Private Finance
We’re here at Clifton Private Finance to help you at every stage of the application journey.
Whether you’re right at the early speculative stage or have already have a house lined up, we can offer expert advice and make the process more efficient.
Call today and ask to speak to one of the specialist mortgage team.
