How long does it take to get a mortgage?

The question of how long does it take to get a mortgage has cropped up frequently lately, and we though it would be helpful to clarify what realistic timescales are, and what can be done to minimise them. I suspect that a year of painfully high interest rates has seen lenders quieter than usual and that in turn has led to some optimistic turnaround time. Well with rates falling again and brokers and lenders as busy as ever, that is no longer the case.

In this article we will clarify what the lead times are for both a recommendation from us, a full application and offer and the following legal work and drawdown of funds, and most importantly things we can do to minimise this and ensure rapid offers and completion.

The initial advice – 24 to 48 hours

This is largely determined by the fact finding process. In order to fully make a recommendation we need a number of things completed:

• An understanding of what you intend to achieve – We’ll want to have an initial discussion and understand the main constraints; basic income, deposit or equity, the property and anything else that’s unique or important as well as your long term objectives, why you are looking to do what you want to do. Generally this is established on the first consultation, either by telephone or video. You can schedule an appointment here: Book a Videocall/Telephone Appointment
• A fully completed fact find. We have an excellent online system provided by an industry leading platform, and you can see the features and benefits here: (Acre page). This dedicated and secure portal includes:
  • A fully electronic identification service using either Experian data to confirm its you, or Onfido’s banking grade passport/driving license recognition software.
  • Your Experian credit report, of which you will get a copy available whenever you need to check it.
  • A full fact find system to document your address history, employment/self-employment history, property portfolio and all the other key information, easy to complete in less than 20 minutes.
  • Document storage so you can see quotes provided, suitability report detailing why we recommended the product and any offer documents and insurance policies.
  • Secure upload facility, end to end encrypted portal allowing you to upload your payslips, Tax Calculations and bank statements to our secure portal.
• A decision in principle – A basic credit and affordability check from the recommended lender, often required by estate agents when making an offer on a property.

The timescale for the above can be as little as 24 hours, but typically takes a few days to ensure we are 100% accurate and confirm any details.

The application process – 3 to 6 weeks

At the point you are happy to go ahead or have an offer accepted on a property, again we can usually get a full application submitted within 24 hours, but if we need additional information specific to the lender we might need to wait for you to come back to us. Once we have submitted the full application it generally follows this basic process:

• Initial document checks – Here the lender will assign a case handler and will ensure they have everything they need to underwrite the application. Lenders have specific packaging requirements and so wont allow a case to move any further forward unless they have the income documents, bank statements and deposit proofs.
• Solicitor information – There always needs to be a solicitor selected for an application and whilst they can be changed through the process, this in itself can create significant delays as lenders will run due diligence checks on them to ensure they meet their requirements.
• Direct Debit instruction – Lenders only offer mortgages with Direct Debit payment and so a signed direct debit mandate is required. If you plan to create a new account for mortgage payments this will need to be done ahead of time as some banks can take a while to open new accounts, especially in a limited company, and lenders wont progress the case until there’s a sort code and account number.

Once the case has been fully packaged its passed to an underwriter for assessment and most likely the valuation will be instructed. Some lenders leave the valuation, especially if they are paying for it, until after the underwriting and so its key to advise any estate agents that this is the case as they might assume a delayed valuation means a delayed application…

Valuation appointments can lead to delays, and that’s out of anyone’s control usually. Sometimes if the local area is busy, or a surveyor is on holiday and its passed to someone else, that can be scheduled for some weeks in advance. This is unfortunate but one of many aspects of the application process that can be variable and that we have to accept.

Assuming a case is fully packaged, that is its passed to the lender with all the information and documentation required to underwrite the case, then the process can be relatively quick. We always strive to fully package a case and ensure we have everything that’s required upfront, but often an underwriter will spot something on a payslip, bank statement or other document that generates additional questions. This is where the process becomes unpredictable. Lenders tell us not to send them anything they haven’t asked for. the rationale being that if they see something they have to query it and have to act on it. Often lenders will say they only need the latest months bank statement, but then see an entry that leads them to request additional statements. It might seem intuitive to simply send them as many as possible and avoid the delay, but this in turn can often cause more issues than it solves. As a result we send what’s asked for and accept that if more is needed we will obtain this. More often than not, the less documents they need to sign off the mortgage the better. It seems counter intuitive but that’s the way it works!

Assuming the valuation has come back within this period then a mortgage offer will usually follow relatively quickly. In an ideal world, the initial checks can take 3-4 days as it works through the system, underwriters can take 2-3 weeks to back and forth and sign off the mortgage and so we would advise that for a regular residential mortgage you should expect an offer in 3 weeks, a Buy to let in 4 weeks and anything more specialist, due to the fact the lenders are usually smaller and more hands on, anything from 4-6 weeks. That seems like a long time, but there are a lot of moving parts. There are occasions where both the lenders workload is light, the valuation is automated and the initial documents are all satisfactory and we’ve seen cases offer in just 4 or 5 days. Its always possible but but impossible to predict!

The legal work and drawdown of funds – 3 to 6 weeks

This can be very hard to predict, as its infinitely complex depending on the case. Its not something you want to rush either. The legal work is a very hands on process and the risk of your lawyer missing something if pushed to get cases out of the door could be very expensive to you. As such we wont cover the intricacies of a house purchase in this post. If we consider a remortgage though, that’s a little easier to define as the steps are more predictable and as there is no change in ownership the work conducted by the solicitor is almost entirely for the lender.

We have a panel of highly recommended solicitors that will price match mortgage cash back and this has one major advantage – If a lender provides a free solicitor, then they generally only appoint them once the mortgage has offered. The timescales for assessing the property title, your identification and other documents happens consecutively, i.e. one after the other. If you use the cashback, where available, the solicitors are instructed on application and act concurrently, side by side.

Solicitors will need at least 1 week from completing their work to getting the funds into your account (and/or repaying the existing lender), and whilst in an emergency we can reduce this to just hours, this is usually something mandated by the lender. They will also likely need a few weeks to check your ID, the property title and documents, and another week or two to respond to the lenders requirements. Assuming we have this running concurrent to the application that means realistically you need around 3 weeks after offer to get the funds drawdown.

Beware the estate agents that demand things yesterday!

As an aside one of the amusing things about this process is that when you are buying a property, in almost every case the estate agents demand that speed is crucial and that the vendors of the property are ready and waiting for you, only to discover that once you’ve got your offer and completed everything you end, they go very quiet or all of a sudden need to find a house themselves! Invariably estate agents are simply acting in the best interests of their vendor, and one of those interests is ensuring that your funds are secure, which in turn means their vendors funds are secure…

Estate agents know how long it takes for an application, and whilst they might tell you everyone else is getting offers in days, its not the case, they are simply trying to secure their sale.

Some notable exceptions

• Deposit proofs – This can often be one of the most frustrating aspects of an application. You are asked for endless amounts of bank statements and it seems the process never ends. Well this is a legal requirement, so not something that can be overcome. We all need to ensure we have a full audit trail on file so that should we be asked to by a court, we can show where the wealth comes from. Its not because we, the lender or the solicitors think your funds might be illicit, but that if in a few years we skipped this step and they were, we are liable and prison is a potential consequence. As such, whilst it is a pain, its a process we have to undertake. On this point, it seems helpful to move all your money into one place before you apply so its easy for us to see its all there, but actually this makes the process exponentially more complex because we need both source and destination accounts for every transfer. Have six savings accounts and moved it all into one? now we need potentially dozens of statements to show how that money moved. Leave the funds where they are and move it once you have a completion date set!
• Limited company applications – If you are buying in a company, the lenders will almost always want you to have personal independent legal advice to ensure that you understand that there actually isn’t any limited liability and that your personal guarantee means that you personally are liable for any and all missed mortgage payments… Not only can this be expensive, £250 + vat per persona, but it adds an extra step in the process.
• Portfolio customers – If you own more than 3 properties you will likely need all of those to be assesses under relatively new guidelines. That means we need a full portfolio, potentially a business plan outlining what type of landlord you are/plan to be and some basic asset and liabilities statements.
• Interest only applications – If you are using collateral in the form of a pension, other property or other funds/assets as a repayment vehicle for an interest only mortgage then the value of those assets might need to be assessed. This can add some variability to the process as in the case of property they likely need to be valued.
• Self employed clients – If you are self employed, be it a limited company director, partner, contractor or sole trader/partnership you will likely need to prove your income with several years Tax Calculations. To ensure that those are accurate the lenders use the Tax Year Overview (a receipt of tax owed and paid) to ensure they are the final figures. Tax Calculations alone can be amended multiple times so there no other way of them knowing the £100k you paid yourself wasn’t actually £10k to avoid the hefty tax that would attract. Here’s a helpful guide to obtaining these as they are not sent to you automatically. As a rule, if you are a BTL landlord with property or self employed income you should get into a habit of saving these every year as we will ask for them every time!
  • As a further note about the above. Tax Calculations need to be dated no more than 18 months ago. That means that after roughly 5th October the most recent period is required, yet the tax isn’t actually payable until the 31st January. You need proof the tax has been paid and so unfortunately you might have to part with that money early if you are unlucky enough to need a mortgage in the last quarter of the year.

TL:DR – How long does it take to get a mortgage?

We can be ready to apply in days if we need to, as long as you use our online tools and provide everything required upfront.

We can possible get a mortgage offer in a matter of weeks if its straight forward, but we cannot predict:

• The lenders current service times, or the additional questions they might have, nor do we want to send them everything just in case as they have to assess it all.
• Valuation dates – sometimes surveyors are just busy and cant fit the property in until later.
• More specialist cases or properties require a hands on approach and those lenders are less predictable

We can get a remortgage to completion in perhaps another 2 weeks, but the likelihood is more like 3-4 weeks.

Ultimately if you under promise and over deliver things are less stressful and the reality is that whilst everyone wants money yesterday, they know several hundred thousand pounds doesn’t materialise overnight. Those pressuring for speed are more likely interested in their bonuses or their onward purchases. That said, getting documents ready, especially Tax Calculations, deposit statements and completing the fact fact as thoroughly as possible allows us to get to the finish line swiftly. After all, we only get paid on a successful completion, so we are also motivated to get the job done!