Mortgage Documents

As part of the mortgage process, there are various documents you will need to provide in order for the mortgage lender to verify your income, expenditure, address and identity. Documents should always be requested by the broker before submitting any mortgage application. This allows the broker to give you the most informed advice possible and notice anything that may affect the choice of bank or building society applied to.

While the list of required documents is often long, providing more upfront often saves time further down the line. Banks generally assess documents a specified number of working days after they are uploaded to the case file. Making sure they have everything they need the first time round helps ensure they can offer the mortgage at the first time of asking rather than having to come back and ask for more.

The below list of documents would be required as standard:

  • Proof of Identification (eg: Passport, Driving Licence)
  • Proof of Address (eg: Driving Licence, Utility Bill, Council Tax Bill)
  • Proof of Deposit
  • Bank Statements
  • Payslips/Accounts/Tax Calculations and Overviews

The below list of documents are examples of what may be required in certain circumstances:

  • Credit Report if adverse credit indicated
  • Proof of Rental income for a BTL mortgage
  • Business Bank Statements for self-employed individuals
  • P60 if income coming from bonus, overtime, commission, etc.

Different mortgage lenders will require a different number of documents. Some lenders request fewer documents than the above list as they can access the required information through alternative back-end systems. However, the broker will require most of the above for legal compliance reasons. On top of what we’ve mentioned, there can be bespoke requirements requested at the discretion of the underwriter too.

For those who are self-employed, in light of the pandemic, lenders are often now looking for more reassurance regarding the sustainability of businesses. Examples of this could be a reference from the accountant, business bank statements from previous years or an explanation for any decrease in earnings.

At times it can feel like the banks are being picky.  Whether it’s transaction lists instead of proper bank statements, tax calculations and overviews that don’t quite match up or documents which are photographed in poor quality, these will more often than not be rejected by the bank if uploaded by the broker. This is why providing the right documents, as requested by the broker, is vital to ensure you get your mortgage offer in a timely manner.