How to Prepare Your Documents for a Mortgage Application

How should you prepare your documents for a mortgage application? What documents do you need? When applying for a mortgage you will be asked for various documents in order to verify your income and identity. Having these documents prepared and ready can help to make the process a little smoother. So here are my top tips for preparing your documents:

Proof of ID and Proof of Address

You will be asked for documents to verify your identity. This is usually in the form of a passport or driving licence, however, if you don’t have these we can accept a combination of other documents such as birth certificates etc.

• Make sure your driving licence is valid and has your current address on it.
• Make sure your passport is still valid and if you have any VISAs make sure that they are still in date.
• If you have recently married and you’ve not changed your documents then we can still accept them in your maiden name but we will have to supply a copy of your marriage certificate at the same time.

Proof of Income (Employed)

If you are employed you will be asked for your most recent 3 months’ payslips. If you have irregular income such as overtime or bonuses, then we might need to see an extended timeframe such as 6 months. If you get paid weekly then you will need to provide 3 months’ worth of those weekly payslips.

Make sure that you have the correct address on your payslip. Now that many people receive their payslips electronically it can be easy to forget to change your address.

Proof of Income (Self- Employed)

The documents that are required for this will be different depending on how your business is structured – for example, are you a sole trader or operating as a limited company? In most cases the required documents will be either your most recent 2 years’ certified accounts or your most recent 2 years’ tax calculations.

The income figures you use for your self-employment can’t be more than 18 months old so it might be the case that you have to report your accounts before they are technically due with HMRC.

Bank Statements

Lenders ask for the most recent 3 month’s bank statements to verify your income and expenditure. They will be looking to check that your salary goes into your account and that all regular commitments are showing on your statements.

• Make sure that they have the correct address on them. Again this can be easily missed if you get your bank statements online.
• Be aware that any gambling expenditure in these 3 months may be looked on unfavourably by a lender in their decision-making process
• If any family or friends send you money into your account, make sure these have an accurate description and do not use joke names or references, which can cause concern with a lender.

As your adviser we will always talk you through all the specific requirements for your individual case, The above are some general tips on the types of documentation many mortgage applications require, but remember that lenders can request additional documents on the application.