In 2007 roughly 2.3 per cent of vetted mortgage applications were rejected; however, this has risen to 8.8 per cent so far this year. All the applications were qualified against the lender's criteria prior to submission and on paper appeared to fit. However, lenders still found reasons to reject them
Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said: "Lending criteria has become too strict - even vetted applications that we would expect to be accepted without a hitch are being rejected.
"Credit histories play an important part in the process and any blemishes will make finding a mortgage increasingly difficult. All debt repayments - credit cards, loans, store cards etc - must be made on time. Details of all missed repayments are held on your personal files for six years and may count against you when your credit rating is accessed.
"Assessing affordability is key for lenders and everyone has to be much more realistic about what they can borrow. The most anyone can reasonably hope for is four times their salary - anything over this is more likely to be rejected. And you can't expect lenders to take overtime or commission into consideration when they assess affordability, they are likely to base the maximum lending purely on your basic salary.
"Finally, make sure you have a large enough deposit - 10 per cent is really the minimum at the moment."
