Mortgage without much credit history

[Abcdecat]

Hi

I’m early 20s, work in a professional job in the nhs at band 5 and have a good amount of savings, and will continue to build them up.

However, I don’t think my credit score will be very good.

I’ve never had any credit cards, loans etc. Except for the student loan. I own my car outright.

According to google the only thing that I do have that can affect it is a phone bill.

I’m wanting to buy a house in the next 3-5 years, when I should be still band 5, or hopefully band 6. I’m concerned that I’ll have no credit score however and won’t be able to get a mortgage. From what I can tell my only positives to a potential lender is secure income and that I will have a 20-40% deposit.

Can anyone advise me on anything I can do to improve my chances / credit.

Also at uni I went through a phase of opening multiple bank accounts (savings). Will this affect my score? I am in the process of reducing them down and by January will have a current account, lifetime isa, fixed term isa and one savings account.

My only other outgoings are Spotify / similar but Experian reckons these don’t affect it.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks

bump

Hi,
I think maybe using a credit report would be useful so you'll know exactly where you stand with your credit score and they usually give you tips on things you can do to improve your score. I'd recommend equifax or credit karma.

Look though Martin’s money saving expert site. They may suggest to build a credit score such as use a credit card and pay it off in Full each month. Good luck for band 6!

Yes, get a credit card, use it for some of your normal expenditure (eg petrol or supermarket shopping, or even just your Spotify if that's done on a card rather than direct debit) and set up a direct debit to pay it off in full every month.

Never use your overdraft - can be expensive and banks see it as a bad thing. Watch all your accounts so you don't accidentally miss any payments.

Read the first time buyer's guide on Moneysavingexpert, but it seems like, once you've got the credit card and deposit, you'll be well on your way to buying a property.

Thanks all! very useful

I echo the credit card part - that's an important part in building a credit score. Also make sure you don't have an excessive amount of bank accounts open/open any too frequently as they also look at the longevity of the accounts. Make sure you tick the easy bits like registering on electoral rolls etc as that counts towards it too.

From the sounds of it I doubt you'll struggle to get a mortgage so don't worry too much about it :)

Thanks all my credit score is actually okay, I don’t know why I thought it wouldn’t be. But I’ll bare all your tips in mind. Thanks again x

Please don't think that because Experian or the like tell you that your credit score is excellent that a lender will think the same. That "score" doesn't mean much.
Get a credit card, use it regularly and pay it off in full every month. Set up a direct debit to pay it so you don't forget. Get a cashback card so at least it's working for you. Make sure you are on the electoral register. Stay with your bank, a long relationship means something.

Thanks. I should say I am on the electoral register.

credit card, pay it off monthly

make sure for the 3 months pre mortgage, you stay outof your overdraft and no takeaways etc - basically get your outgoings way down for 3 months and look fab

mortgage broker - do not use the bank!