It seems daft in an age of mobile apps and ‘online everything’ that quite a few mortgage lenders continue to rely heavily on paper documents to process home loan applications.

Although some lenders are making headway, digital mortgage applications are some way off becoming the norm, even though many of the back-office functions such as valuations and local searches are in the process of going digital.

For the time being, therefore, there are quite a few bits of paper that wannabe home buyers need to chase up to help answer lenders’ questions about them.

Question: how much do you earn?

Find: P60

This is the slip of paper employees receive from their company’s HR department detailing their total salary for the year, tax and NI contributions. The self-employed get them too, but usually from their accountant instead.

Find: Payslips

Most, if not all mortgage companies ask applicants for payslips covering the past three months, sometimes more if someone’s salary is based on on-target or ‘OTE’ earnings. If an employer provides electronic payslips these need to include personal details such as a person’s National Insurance numbers, otherwise it’s time to ask for paper copies.

Find: Bank statements

Copies of bank statements for the past three months will need to be dug out. Here’s our more detailed guide to the banking paperwork applicants need to find.

Question: Who are you?

Find: Passports and more

Before handing over hundreds of thousands of pounds, it’s not surprising that lenders want to know who you are. In 2017, latest research suggests, criminals stole £1.5 billion via mortgage fraud in the UK.

Applicants must provide proof of identity and address, which means two pieces of evidence which usually means a passport or photo driving licence plus copies of a utility bill or council tax bill less than three months old. Until recently documents proving someone's identity could be copies signed by a person in authority, but now the original documents must be sent in.

Question: Where’s the deposit coming from?

Find: bank statements.

Since anti money laundering rules were introduced, mortgage applicants need to provide proof of where their deposit came from, so for example a copy of their building society deposit account or ISA statement, or proof it was given to them by their parents or some other benefactor.

Question: How much of a lending risk are you?

Find: Your credit score online

A low credit score can be a millstone around someone’s neck because if often influences how a mortgage firm lends; someone applying for a mortgage with a low score may either be rejected or offered a higher-interest home loan than someone with a higher credit score.

It’s essential to check your score beforehand, therefore. There are several online credit score checking websites most of which offer their service for free if someone registers with them and who will supply them with a report detailing their recent borrowing activity.

Here’s our guide to how credit score checking works.

How to improve your credit score

If someone discovers that their credit score IS too low then there are several reasons why this might be, and plenty of solutions out there to remedy the problem.

This includes CreditLadder. We are a free service that enables tenants who pay their rent on time to report their payments to Experian, the UK’s leading credit reference agency.

This payment history is then used by lenders to help them assess how creditworthy someone is, which until recently wasn’t a service people renting in the private rental market could access.

See how CreditLadder works here or read our comprehensive guide to improving your credit score.

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.