Mortgage Documents

Mortgage Documents

Proof of Identity

There are the only two documents we can accept as proof of identity. Those are your valid, signed, in-date passport OR a valid in-date photocard driving licence.

This is because we need an official government photo ID document to prove you are who you say you are.

We can’t accept an expired passport or one with the wrong name.

If you have recently married/divorced/changed your name by deed poll and still need to update all your documents, this can cause a problem with your application, so we recommend updating all your documents as soon as possible.

Likewise, if you choose to use your driving licence, it must be registered to your current address and be in the correct name.

Did you know you can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA when your address changes; however, it does not cost anything to change your address with DVLA.

Proof of Address

You can use several documents to prove where you live, and below is a list of which documents are acceptable.

Please note – if you have used your driving licence for your proof of ID, you cannot use it for proof of address.

• UK bank or credit card statement
• Council Tax bill
• HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) tax notification
• UK personal tax summary
• Most recent mortgage statement
• Utility bill – gas/water/electric
• Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus or Veterans UK letter confirming your right to benefits

You should ensure that if you’re using bank statements or credit card bills –

• the document is addressed to you and is in the same name as your proof of ID
• the document is dated within the last three months

If using Council Tax bills, these must be either for the current billing year and dated within the last 13 months or the next billing year and dated within the previous four months.

Mobile phone or broadband statements/documents are not valid proof of address.

Proof of Income – Employed

Most mortgage lenders consider the last three months representative of your regular income to establish how much you earn, so we always ask for your most recent three months’ payslips.

However, if you are paid every four weeks, we will need the past four months of payslips, or if you are paid weekly, we will need the most recent 13 payslips.

NB – payslips, where they show an address, it must be your current address. If your payslips show a previous address, you must speak with your employer/HR department to have your address details updated.

If you wish to use any overtime, bonus, commission or enhancements that you receive regularly, we will need, as a minimum, your most recent P60 and:-

• Bonus – if paid quarterly, the past four quarters’ bonus payslips.
• Bonus – if paid annually – the past two years’ bonus payslips.

Overtime/Commission/Enhancements – we’ll need your past six months’ payslips. This is because we must provide evidence to the mortgage lender that your additional income is regular and sustainable.

Proof of Income – Self Employed

To establish how much you earn, most mortgage lenders consider the past two full years of your self-employment and take an average of your income; however, this varies from lender to lender.

Some lenders use only one year, and some use the most recent year. The documents we require are as follows:-

The last two years’ SA203s – this is sometimes known as a tax computation. You can download these from HMRC or ask your accountant to provide them. Some lenders may also request SA100s.

We also need the last two years’ corresponding tax year overviews, which prove you’ve paid the tax on your income to HMRC.

You can download these from HMRC or ask your accountant to provide them.

We must collect at least the most recent three full months’ business bank statements as we have to demonstrate that the income declared on the tax documents equals an annualisation of the income received into your business account. This shows the sustainability of the income received.

Bank Statements

You always require a full bank statement for each salary credit to your account.

This means you’ll need, as a minimum, your past three full months’ bank statements, so the best way to think of this is to download the month-to-date and the previous three months.

Do not download any Excel or CSV files – those are not acceptable because they are editable.

For example – assume it’s the middle of May; the statements you’d need are – May month-to-date along with April, March and February. If it’s the last few days of May, it would still be – May month-to-date, along with April, March and February.

Please note that many bank accounts don’t run from the 1st to the 31st – this is why you must check that you are downloading the correct bank statements showing your salary credits corresponding to your payslips.

If you are using additional payslips for bonus/overtime/commission etc. In that case, you’ll need the corresponding bank statements for those payslips.

The easiest way to provide your bank statements is by logging into your online banking and downloading your bank statements as PDFs.

Unfortunately, some banks don’t have this functionality on the mobile app, and you will need to log in on a PC rather than on a mobile.

If you struggle, then please search the internet on how to download XXXXXXXXX bank statements, and your account provider should have a guide.

Please note that a bank statement and a transaction list differ. A bank statement has your name and address along with your account information. A transaction list often only shows a partial account number and is often missing your address.

Your Credit Report

A credit report is a report card on your credit history & how you manage your finances.

It’s a historical record of the past six years of how and when you pay your bills, how much debt you have, and how long you have managed credit accounts, among other things.

Every lender in the UK has a unique credit scoring system which determines who they will or won’t accept.

In addition, all mortgage lenders rely on credit reference agencies’ information to decide whether or not you fit within their credit risk policy.

We only use Check My File because it’s the most comprehensive system that pulls together all the credit data held about you from all three credit reference agencies into one report.

NB – We only accept Check My File credit reports.

Please note – Check My File offers a 30-day free trial for new users, after which you will be charged £14.99 monthly. Of course, you can cancel the trial or subscription at any time.

Once you have downloaded and saved your credit report, we recommend you cancel your subscription; otherwise, you will be charged.

Click Here To Access Check My File And Download Your Credit Report

Proof of Deposit

You must provide proof of deposit to multiple parties when you buy a new home.

These are the estate agents you buy through, your solicitor and us. There is a lot of importance placed on verifying the source of your deposit, and we are all bound by strict anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

Why are money laundering checks necessary?

As a result of the vast amounts of money being transferred daily in the UK property market, the property industry is a target for money launderers and fraudsters.

Purchasing a property can be how a criminal can launder the proceeds of crime. We’re not suggesting you’re a criminal – this simply explains the due diligence that must be done on everyone.

Carrying out these checks prevents those who are criminals from prospering.

Therefore, before anyone buys a property, rigorous checks are undertaken by us, mortgage lenders, estate agents and conveyancing solicitors to verify identity, proof of address and the source of wealth and funds to ensure that they are not the proceeds of crime.

The type of evidence required to show how you have accumulated funds for your house deposit or purchase amount is commonly from the following:

Bank/Savings Account Statements – Minimum requirement for the last six months showing your income and savings, enabling you to reach your deposit or purchase funds. Some banks and building societies do not produce statements, so you may need to ring your account provider to order paper statements or go into a branch and ask them to print off six months of statements.

Gifted Deposit – Where you are due to receive a gifted deposit from your parents or a close family member, we will usually ask them to sign a declaration to confirm that the funds being sent are a gift and not a loan or otherwise entitle them to an interest in your property. Also, the person gifting the deposit must provide proof of identity and address and complete their source of funds checks.

Property Sale – Where you rely on funds from the sale of another property that has already been completed, you will generally have to show the completion statement to confirm the funds being received and your bank statement showing the receipt of completion funds.

Investments – The sale of any shares or investments used to fund the purchase must be evidenced by confirmation of sale and a copy of your bank statement showing that you have received money from the sale.