Need to balance transfer credit card but want to apply for a mortgage soon

[Soontobeseller]

We have about £2500 on a 0% credit card which runs out in June.

I don’t think paying it off is an option before then as we have other things we need to pay for just now (medical, bits and pieces to get the house ready to sell).

So if I do a credit card application soon will it affect the chances of getting a mortgage in say the next 6 months?

I know we kind of have to if we’re not planning to pay it off before then but I’d be gutted if we couldn’t then move house.

Thanks

I'd do it ASAP and then close the first credit card so you only have one credit card and keep the credit limit of that card low. When I worked in a bank we looked at the potential credit someone had access to spend eg
1 x credit card with £2500 credit limit is fine.
3 x credit cards with £2000 credit limit is access to £6000 so less fine.
And keep on top of your payments, don't miss any.

Thank you I think that’s what I’ll do!

Any advice generally on paying off a card? We’ve been carrying this debt for years transferring it over and over again. For the past while I’ve been trying to pay off a few hundred every month but then because I’m putting every spare penny towards it I end up having to use it again! Should I just set the DD for £100 per month, cut up the card and let it run?

Write up a budget for yourself. Add up all your incomings then divide into:
Bills
Essentials eg petrol, travel passes
Groceries
Savings
Treats
Emergencies
Whatever is left over, set up a DD for that amount to go out automatically each month until paid off. Be realistic though, if you can't do £100 then you will end up using using card again like you say.

Check if you can get cheaper deals on bills eg gas & electric, phone, Internet, car insurance- shop around.

Download an automatic savings app like Plum or Chip and whatever is in there each month add that to the credit card repayment too, it's surprising how quickly that adds up.

And yes to cutting up the card :)

I got accepted for a new card this morning, and got very different advice, that using 25% or less of your total available credit (so say £500 on a total limit of £2500 over more than one card) was better than having the same 500 credit with a total borrowing allowance of one card with £1000 limit.
That using 50% or more of your total allowance would hurt your score as could closing down a long standing account and therefore reducing your available creditand raising the percentage of available credit you're actually utilising.