How to get a mortgage? It's a question most of us will wrestle with at some time or another in our lives. Usually more than once. Unfortunately, it's a question getting harder and harder to find an answer to.

From renter to owner

For many buying a home is the natural progression after renting a property. Of course, before that can happen a deposit has to be found and a mortgage arranged.

Assuming the deposit is sorted, an application to the bank for finance is the next step. Unfortunately, approval isn't always straight forward.

The computer says no

According to figures released by the Bank of England, the number of mortgage applications being approved by banks is at its lowest rate for 18 months.

July saw the amount of money learnt by banks fall by £700million with the number of approved applications falling by 12% compared to last year. That equates to an awful lot of disappointed people who missed out on their dream home.

Increase your chances of getting a mortgage

With the banks more reluctant to agree loans it is important that, if applying for a mortgage, you give your application every chance of success.

Mortgage applications are refused for several reasons. The applicants income may be insufficient for the sum requested, inadequate employment history, or even problems with the property.

But, by far the most common reason, is insufficient credit score. Your credit score is so vital to obtaining any form of finance and without a good score a mortgage application has virtually no chance of succeeding.

If you are looking to buy a home you must make sure your credit score is as high as possible to increase your chances of getting a mortgage.

Here are a few steps you can take to increase your credit score:

Check your credit report.

Before making an application for a mortgage make sure you check your credit report. Get a copy from Experian or one of the other credit reference agencies.

Make sure the report is accurate and there are no errors. If there are any issues report them to the credit reference agency and the provider. The provider is the finance company which has provided the data to the credit reference agency.

Getting erroneous information removed from your report will improve your credit score.

Boost your credit score

Take some basic steps. Ensure you are registered to vote, make sure any car / credit card / loan payments are up to date, and don't make more applications for credit than you need to. Read our article Five easy ways to increase your credit score (https://www.creditladder.co.uk/blog/improve-credit...) for more information.

Pay your rent

It may seem a strange thing to say but simply by paying your rent you can increase your chances o getting a mortgage.

The key is to register for Credit Ladder. Once registered your normal monthly rental payments will be recorded on your Experian credit report.

Simply by paying your normal monthly rent you can increase your credit score and the chances of your mortgage application being approved.

For more information on CreditLadders free service click here https://www.creditladder.co.uk/how-it-works or to register click here https://www.creditladder.co.uk/secure/registration

CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score

If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money.

CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.

Remember the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.