Making it simple; applying for a mortgage

Applying for a mortgage? Speak to our experts today

We believe in keeping business simple. You can talk to us at a time and place that suits you. Call The Cambridge today and let us turn your home buying dreams into fully-fledged, house-moving schemes.

Six simple steps

We're delighted to offer a complete mortgage interview process either face to face or by telephone. Our Mortgage Advisers will guide you through each stage.

 

1. Initial enquiry

Whether you want to move house, purchase your first home, consider a buy to let mortgage or wish to enquire about switching your existing mortgage to The Cambridge then we can help.

The first step is to get in touch. Simply call us or request a callback at a time that suits you. 

What to expect

We'll ask you a few questions about your mortgage requirements. This is so we can build a picture of your circumstances and how we might be able to help. This normally takes between 10-15 minutes.

We then agree a suitable time to book you an appointment with a Mortgage Adviser to get your application under way. The information provided by you in your initial consultation is passed to the Mortgage Adviser so you don’t have to go through the trouble of repeating it again during your interview. 

 

2. Mortgage Interview

The interview normally takes about 90 minutes and allows us to fully understand your mortgage requirements. Your Mortgage Adviser will talk through your current and future needs, and discuss your income and expenditure to determine how much we can lend you. You’ll need to come along to the interview prepared, so take a look at our 'Ready for your mortgage interview' guide to understand the preparation you’ll need to do and the information you’ll need to bring along with you.

Decision in principle

By the end of the appointment your Mortgage Adviser will recommend if one of our mortgages is suited to your needs and circumstances. In some cases they may provide you with a 'decision in principle’ to take away which isn't a binding offer but confirms that we would be willing to help you with a mortgage subject to:

• verifying the information you've provided

• completing a full credit search

• carrying out a property valuation (when required)

 

European Standardised Information Sheet

Once your Mortgage Adviser has recommended a suitable mortgage you’ll receive a European Standardised Information Sheet. This document contains key information about the mortgage product your Mortgage Adviser is recommending to you. It will include information such as the product type, the interest rate(s), the cost of repayments, the term of the mortgage, and any related charges such as application or valuation fees.

If you are happy with what your Mortgage Adviser is recommending, we can start the application process.

Instructing a solicitor

When you're ready to proceed you'll need to appoint a legal representative to act on your behalf. We operate an Approved Solicitor Panel made up of solicitors from across East Anglia, and other parts of England, who we have approved to act on your behalf. If you appoint a firm that isn't on our panel, we will require our own partner solicitor to act on our behalf. This means that you may be responsible for our legal fees in addition to your own legal fees.

Your Mortgage Adviser will be happy to help you find a suitable panel solicitor.

 

3. Mortgage application

Once you have confirmed that you would like to proceed, your Mortgage Adviser will arrange a convenient time for you to complete the application. This normally takes between 30 - 45 minutes. If you haven’t already, you’ll need to provide us with your personal documents so that we can verify information such as the identity and income of all the applicants involved. Again your Mortgage Adviser will cover this with you during your appointment. Please do not send personal information via email.

Mortgage valuation

We are required, by law, to carry out a valuation of the property you wish to buy. The valuation will assess the security offered by the property for our lending purposes and also make sure that you are paying a fair price. Your Mortgage Adviser will talk you through the different types of valuations and surveys available.

Your Mortgage Adviser will also talk to you about any additional requirements that all homeowners should consider such as Home Insurance and Life Cover.

Once your application is complete it will be submitted to our Mortgage Application Team for processing.

Keeping you updated

You'll receive updates via email at the following stages of your application:

• on receipt of your application

• when a valuer has been instructed to value the property

• when the valuation has been received

• when we've assessed the valuation as being satisfactory, and are ready to issue your formal mortgage offer

• when the mortgage funds are set up to be released

• when your mortgage has completed

 

 

4. Mortgage offer

Once we've completed our checks, and we're happy with the formal property valuation, we'll send you a ‘mortgage offer’. The mortgage offer is a formal document confirming that your loan has been agreed and includes a full breakdown of the mortgage costs and terms. A copy will be sent directly to your legal representative if applicable.

If you're buying a property the next step is exchanging of contracts and paying the deposit

When your legal representative has completed their enquiries about the property, satisfied any mortgage conditions and is in receipt of a binding mortgage offer from us, you will be ready to ‘exchange contracts’. Your legal representative will ask you to sign the contract and pay the deposit.

Your signed contract will then be sent to the seller’s legal representative who, in exchange, will send back an identical contract signed by the seller. This process is known as the ‘exchange of contracts’ and legally binds you to the purchase of the property. If you pull out at this stage you may lose your deposit.

Once contracts are exchanged a date for completion can be agreed. We’ll release the funds to your legal representative one working day prior to the agreed completion date.

 

5. Completion

Once all of the formalities have been completed you can start benefitting from your new mortgage deal. From mortgage offer to completion usually takes between one and three months for new purchases or three and six weeks for re-mortgages. Additional borrowing usually takes between two and four weeks to complete, depending on the amount you are borrowing and if a legal representative has been required.

Shortly after completion we will write to confirm that your mortgage payment direct debit has been set up and to confirm the monthly payments that will be debited from your bank account.

 

6. Post-completion

Once your new mortgage is up and running we'll make sure that the service doesn’t stop there. We aim to be here for you whenever you need us. You can contact our expert team whenever you have any queries either by telephone, email or in branch. We'll also contact you from time to time to make sure you're happy with every aspect of your mortgage.

Product maturity

If you opt for one of our fixed or discounted mortgages then the initial rate of interest will end after an agreed period - usually two or five years. This is known as product maturity. We'll contact you before your mortgage product matures to discuss the options available to you at this point and make sure your Cambridge mortgage continues to be the right mortgage for you.

 

All mortgages subject to security and status.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE