Everything you need to know about HSBC mortgages

How improve your credit score

Thinking of getting a mortgage from HSBC? If so, it is important to make sure you have a healthy credit score, which is determined by factors you should consider if you want the best chance at getting a mortgage from HSBC. What makes a credit score healthy isn’t always understood by everyone. So to help you get a clearer picture, we’ve broken down some of the main things you can do to improve you credit score.

• Make payments on time – making late payments or failing to make them entirely can have a negative effect on your credit score. Because of this, you should try to make sure you complete your repayments on time so as to keep your credit score healthy. Paying on time consistently will help show HSBC that you are the right person to give a mortgage to.
• Keep your balance low – carrying a high balance across several credit cards means HSBC could see you as a higher-risk individual, who they might be more reluctant to offer a mortgage to. This is because they’ll assume you’re more likely to default on your monthly mortgage repayments. You should try to keep your balance lower than your credit limit as often as you can, as this will give you a better chance of getting a mortgage from HSBC.
• Combine types of credit  – if it is absolutely necessary that you take out multiple types of credit, you should definitely think about spreading them across no more than one or two cards. Keeping multiple types of credit confined to one or two cards will help highlight you to HSBC as a more responsible user of credit.

Don’t forget your credit history either, which is a sort of timeline of all the times you’ve accessed credit in the past, as well as your payment trends. Pay attention to the advice above and your credit history will be a reflection of a healthy credit score. To check your credit score, websites such as Experian offer the service for free.