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What happens after my mortgage offer is issued?

Completing your mortgage

With a mortgage offer from us in hand, you’re almost home and dry. Find out how to complete your mortgage and pick up the keys.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

You’re almost there

We’ll send you an offer once we’ve finished processing your mortgage application. The offer means we’re happy to lend you the amount our mortgage adviser discussed with you at your appointment. We’ll also have completed our final checks on your finances, such as verifying your income and running a full credit check, and valuing the property you want to buy.

Last chance for changes

We’ll send a copy of the offer to your solicitor or conveyancer, so you can both check the details. It’s really important to let us know if anything has changed at this stage, such as changes to

  • Your income or employment status
  • The purchase price of the property 

Accepting your mortgage offer

Your solicitor or conveyancer will let you know if you need to do anything before signing and returning the mortgage offer to us. In many cases, you can sign your documents securely online – if so, we’ll include the details of how to do that with your offer.

Completing your purchase

After you’ve accepted our mortgage offer, your solicitor can start the final phase of buying your property. That means they’ll agree a date to exchange contracts with the seller. The contracts set out your agreement – what’s included in the purchase price, as well as any terms and conditions you and the seller are agreeing to. Your solicitor can answer any questions you have about exchanging contracts (in Scotland, the process is called an ‘exchange of missives’).

 If you’re buying in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, this is the point at which you legally commit to buying the property. In Scotland, you’re committed once the respective solicitors reach ‘conclusion of missives’. Your solicitor will agree a completion date with you, which is usually the day you’ll get the keys. To make sure that happens smoothly, make sure you have

  • The money for the deposit, if you’re providing one
  • The money to pay your solicitor or conveyancer
  • Any additional fees they tell you about, such as Stamp Duty

What if the seller tries gazumping the price?

If the seller attempts to increase the purchase price or tells you that they’re ready to accept a higher offer, we can’t give you advice you on what you should do – you should speak to your solicitor about that. But if you want to understand your mortgage options before responding, please contact your mortgage adviser.

Make sure you’re covered

Your mortgage adviser will have already spoken to you about arranging buildings, content and life insurance – your buildings cover needs to start on your completion date. If you haven’t already arranged home contents and life insurance, you should consider that now. 

Start preparing to move

We’ve compiled a list of things to starting thinking about when you’re preparing to move home.

Getting your first mortgage

Our best first-time buyer mortgage rates

Find the right deal for you

We offer mortgages that can help if you’re having trouble saving for the deposit you need, as well as a wide range of fixed-rate and tracker deals.

How to get a mortgage for your first home

Find the right deal for you

We’ll show you how to get a mortgage from start to finish, including what you need to tell us and the steps you’ll need to take.

Help to buy mortgages

You can no longer apply for the government’s Help to Buy scheme

You can no longer access the equity loan from Homes England, and you won’t be able to complete using a Help to Buy: Equity Loan mortgage. Find out more about the scheme here: www.gov.uk/help-to-buy-equity-loan 

If you have any questions about your mortgage offer, please contact your mortgage advisor or broker for more information.

How to apply

Use our calculators to see how much you could afford to borrow, and get an Agreement in Principle to see if we could lend what you need before booking a mortgage appointment. 

Mortgage calculators

Work out which kind of mortgage you could afford

Use our mortgage calculators to work out how much you could borrow and how much deposit you need for a mortgage.

Agreement in Principle

Take the first step to your mortgage

Start an Agreement in Principle (AiP) online to find out quickly if you could borrow the amount you need – without affecting your credit score.

Starting your mortgage application

Get ready to apply

Find out how to book an appointment to start your mortgage application, and see the list of documents and information you’ll need to provide.

Need some help?

Call us

You can call us on Monday to Friday from 7am to 8pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 7am to 5pm.

0333 202 7580

Track It

If you’ve submitted an application, use your mortgage application reference to find out what stage it’s at.