another dumb credit rating question

[zookeeper]

If I apply for a mortgage and my application is rejected by the lender does that adversely affect my credit rating?

It will appear on your credit file, however it would generally only become cause for concern if you were repeatedly applying for credit and being declined, a one off shouldn't have much of an impact :)

thanks

We were warned by our mortgage lender that it would affect our credit rating if we applied for more than one 'agreement in principle', even if they were accepted. This makes no sense to me though and doesn't seem logical at all!

It will only show on your credit file that you have made an application for credit, it will never show the result of the application. The only part that affects your credit file is how many applications you make, but each lender will have their own criteria on how many are acceptable and in what space of time, general consensus is usually don't do more than 3 in 3 months unless you have to, and this is for all types of credit that will require a credit search.