Submit an application

Names

Key the customer’s full name including any middle names. Under ‘Has your name changed within the last 3 years?’ you can also include any previous name, for example maiden name or alternative name a customer also uses.

Contact details

Collect an individual phone number for each customer; select home, day time (work) or mobile and this number becomes mandatory with the others optional. No dummy number can be keyed.

If a phone number populates into the Home number field from an existing customer record we have, just delete that number to proceed 

To add an applicant

At the bottom of the page for Applicant 1 Personal Details select the 'Add Another Applicant' button.

To remove an applicant 

On the Applicant Details page select ‘Remove’ next to the applicant to be removed.

To change the applicant order once you’ve started keying an application

On the Applicant Details page select ‘Re-order applicants’.

Purchase type

Existing Mortgage Customer

• The customer has an existing Halifax mortgage.
• To port a product this option must be selected (and remember to key the existing mortgage as a commitment being repaid where they are porting).

First-time Buyer 

For a purchase application if the customer has not already had a mortgage or purchased a property.

Home Mover

• For a purchase application where not a first-time buyer.

Remortgage or Remortgage Own Conveyancer 

• The customer already owns the property.
• Select the ‘own conveyancer’ option where free legals aren’t being used; this must be selected so conveyancer details can be keyed and could affect product selection.
• Key the current mortgage as a commitment when you get to that screen.
• If capital raising on an unencumbered property the customer already owns answer ‘Is the property being mortgaged, mortgage free?’ as Yes for both applicants on a joint application.

• Enter the customer postcode and select ‘Find address’.
• Select the right address from the dropdown list displayed.
• ‘None of the above’ can only be used where the property is not shown and not to key a different format of the address.
  

Occupation type

Select the most appropriate option from the dropdown list and ‘Other Employed’ should not be chosen.

If a customer owns a 25% or more share of a business (or joint customers both own a share and is 25% or more between them) or any part of the income received is not PAYE such as share of profit or dividends then will be treated as self-employed.

Contract type

Select the right option from Permanent, Fixed/Short Term Contract, Sub-Contracted, Agency Worker, Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), Junior/Locum Doctor, Zero Hours Contract.

• The following incomes are not normally included for affordability purposes – Piecework, Seasonal/Temporary, Probationary (where customer has an initial probationary period at the start of their permanent contract ‘Permanent’ should be selected instead)
• For Contractors select the ‘Fixed/Short-Term Contract’ option and see our website Criteria ‘Contractors’ section for how to calculate the income to key based on 46 weeks. The employer name/address should be completed with details of who contracted to unless contracting via their own company when these details should be keyed.

See our website Criteria ‘Income keying and Acceptance’ section for the types of income that can be used and our Guide to Keying Employed Income calculator for what income figures to key from payslips.

Income type

Key the lower of (a) the total bonus paid in the last 12 months or (b) the average of the bonus paid in each of the last 2 years.

‘Can this income be verified?’ question - must be answered as Yes for the income to be used in the affordability calculation.

Second jobs

Select ‘Add another job’ to add a second employment record.

Applications with 3 or 4 applicants - only the incomes for the first 2 applicants will be used in the affordability calculation.

‘Net profit’ field should be completed as follows from the Tax Calculation:

• Sole trader key net profit.
• Limited company key total of salary/remuneration + dividends drawn.
• Partnership key share of net profit.
• LLP key total of remuneration package (including profit share and annual drawings).

The net profit field for the Latest year must always be completed. Where trading for at least 2 years the Previous year must also be completed (only income figures for full, and not part years trading should be keyed).

The income level used in our affordability calculation will be the lower of the latest year or the average of the last 2 years. If the customer has only been trading 1 year the 1 year’s figure will be used in the affordability calculation but further information may be required, see 1 Year Self-Employed under Criteria.

If self-employed income is from more than one company, select ‘Add another job’ to key a second job.

The ‘Can this income be verified?’ question must be answered as Yes for each income to be used in the affordability calculation.

Additional incomes such as Town/Area/Car Allowance, Additional Duty Hours, Child Tax Credit/Working Tax Credit should not be added to basic salary. Answer ‘Yes’ to ‘Does the applicant have other income they want to use to support the mortgage?’ to key these income types.

Any pension income a customer is already in receipt of can also be keyed here.

Buy to Let (BTL) rental income - if a rental property is owned, or a property is to be let, the gross rental income should be keyed under ‘Rental income (if rental property)’ from the drop down. Key all mortgages under the credit commitments section and the rental income will be used to offset the mortgage commitment at 125% of the mortgage payment. Any surplus will not be used towards the affordability calculation however, where the rental income is less than the 125% threshold, the shortfall will be taken into account as an additional commitment for affordability purposes.

Only if a customer has an unencumbered rental property/properties registered to them personally, not to a company, should the rental income received be keyed instead as a self-employed income to be used in affordability, with the net profit figures keyed reflecting the income declared for tax purposes.

The ‘Can this income be verified?’ question must be answered as Yes for each income to be used in the affordability calculation.

The ‘Anticipated retirement age’ must always be completed; generally the lower of the Anticipated retirement age keyed and a Maximum Working Age (MWA) of 75 years of age will be used to determine if the term chosen makes an application Lending Into Retirement (LIR). (Remortgages with additional borrowing (including unencumbered remortgages) and a small number of applications based on credit score, are restricted to a maximum working age of 70).

Retirement income only needs to be completed where the application is LIR. The retirement income section should include all future pensions to be received by the applicant plus any incomes currently received that will continue. If the term chosen does not go past the lower of the Anticipated retirement age or the MWA do not enter retirement income.

Where a customer is currently in receipt of a pension income, whether retired or otherwise, this must be included within the other income screen.

Where the mortgage term means any applicant will be working past 70 years of age a ‘Customer Working Age form’ from our website forms will need to be completed by all applicants.

The ‘Can this income be verified?’ question must be answered as Yes for each income to be used in the affordability calculation.

Mortgage schemes

Only select a scheme if one applies, otherwise leave this section blank.

Low Deposit

Select for the £5,000 Deposit mortgage.

Second Home Loan

Where the property to be mortgaged is not to be any of the applicant’s main residence (lending will be restricted to a maximum of 75% LTV).

Right to buy

For tenants purchasing from councils, and registered providers including housing associations under a RTB scheme at a discounted price.

• Loans may be accepted up to 100% of the discounted purchase price, plus the cost of any home improvements to be made, provided that they do not exceed our lending limits based on valuation.
• Key the discounted purchase price and market value of the property.
• The ‘Loan Amount’ is the total borrowing (including any amount for home improvements). Where an amount for home improvements is included this will be held as a retention at completion; contact our Broker Support Team following submission to confirm the details.

Resale Price Covenant (RPC)

For customers purchasing at a discounted purchase price under an RPC scheme, also known as Discount Market Scheme (DMS).

• Key the % discount that applies.
• Key the discounted purchase price.
• A 5% personal deposit is required.
• The loan to value (LTV) used for selecting from the product range is the loan amount against the discounted purchase price.

First Home

• For customers purchasing under the Government First Homes scheme in England at a discounted purchase price under a Resale Price Covenant (RPC).
• Key the % discount that applies.
• Key the discounted purchase price.
• A 5% personal deposit is required.
• The loan to value (LTV) used for selecting from the product range is the loan amount against the full market value (not discounted purchase price).

Shared Equity

• ‘What equity stake will be held by the customer? (%)’ - for example if the customer was purchasing on a 80/20 scheme where they will own 80% and 20% is an equity loan, key ‘80’.
• ‘Monthly interest payments’ – regardless of when the interest charge becomes payable calculate the equity loan interest payments as follows: For example £200,000 full property value where the customer will own 80% the amount of equity retained by the shared equity loan provider = £40,000 (20% of £200,000 full value) − Rate of interest payable (confirmed by customer, but for schemes with planned payment increases the higher figure should be used) = for example 4% − £40,000 x 4% = £1,600 per annum − £1,600 / 12 = £134 to be keyed in ‘Monthly interest payments’ field.
• The purchase price field is completed with the purchase price of the whole property.
• The customer must always provide a minimum personal deposit of 5% based on the purchase price of the whole property (excluding any deposit provided by a builder or housing association).
• The loan to value (LTV) used for selecting from the product range is the loan amount against the total purchase price (not the value of their equity share).
• This scheme is selected for any Help To Buy Equity loan applications.

Shared Ownership

• ‘What percentage share will be purchased?’ – 25% to 85%
• ‘Monthly rental commitments’ – rent amount to be paid to Housing Association/Local Authority.
• ‘Name of the shared ownership company’ – select the right option from the dropdown list.
• NB – it is important that the right shared ownership company and confirmed rental amount to be paid are keyed.
• Key the purchase price field with the amount the customer is paying for their share.
• The customer must pay a minimum 5% personal deposit of the share being purchased. (The deposit must be a minimum £4,000 and excludes any deposit provided by a builder or housing association).
• The loan to value (LTV) used for selecting from the product range is the loan amount against the value of the share being purchased.

Source of deposit

You can only select 1 value so if the deposit is from multiple sources select the source of the majority of the funds, unless any element of the deposit is being received as a gift in which case the ‘Gift’ option must be chosen.

Concessionary Purchases

Select ‘Concessionary’ as the Source of Deposit at Full Application.

• The Purchase price should be completed with the property value to enable the correct products to be available for selection.
• The Full Application result obtained will be correct but after submission you must call us and advise of the correct Purchase Price amount so that this will show correctly on all documents produced.

New Build

The ‘Total value of cash incentives’ must be keyed; if these are not disclosed and only come to light after the valuation has been completed the application may no longer meet our criteria and we may be unable to proceed. If incentives take over 90% LTV this will only be accepted subject to credit score and can only be confirmed as acceptable at full application submission.

See the Commitments and outgoings section under Criteria for the commitment types that need to be included.

Leasehold

At Decision in Principle stage if ground rent and/or service charge commitments have not been keyed, as not known, we will use an assumed value for these in our affordability calculation which may mean that at Full Application when the true details are keyed under the property details page, this could affect the loan amount we are willing to lend.

When a full application is keyed and the service charge/ground rent keyed under the property details, there is no need to amend/delete the details keyed under the credit commitments as they will not be counted twice.

Commitment Type

If commitments are to be repaid on or before completion, including mortgages, they must still be keyed and you should select Yes for intend to repay.

Please check if a customer’s payslips show any deductions that should be keyed as commitments e.g. student loans, child care vouchers or salary sacrifice loan schemes (e.g. cars).

For all loans above 85% loan to value (LTV) – and for any other applications where we decide that it is prudent – we will deduct commitments as ongoing even where the customer has declared an intention to repay these.

Where keying commitments with no definitive ‘end date’ e.g. credit cards, you will not need to key an end date, otherwise key a likely end date for the commitment and key the outstanding balance figure as an annual commitment i.e. 12 x monthly payment.

If repaying part of an outstanding commitment, then it must be split and keyed as two commitments ; one to be repaid and one to remain.

Mortgages

A mortgage ‘type’ must be completed which will usually be either ‘Residential’ or ‘Buy to Let’ if the property is already let, or is to be let

If the existing residential mortgage is being remortgaged/converted to a Buy to Let (BTL) then key a residential mortgage as being repaid and a new BTL mortgage commitment as to remain with the new balance/payment that will apply upon completion

Remortgages

The existing mortgage must be keyed as a commitment with Yes to Intend to repay; under source of funds select other and type ‘this mortgage’.

For any other mortgaged properties to remain in the background an assumed running cost will be deducted within the affordability assessment.

Second Home

Should be selected if an unencumbered residential property will remain in the background. Key £1 as running cost and a standard deduction for these costs will be included in our affordability calculation.

Credit Card, Charge Card and Overdraft

5% of the outstanding balance is taken as a monthly commitment even if the customer declares that they are currently making a lower payment. If your customer clears their balance in full each month, key the monthly payment to be the same as the outstanding balance and select No to ‘Intend to Repay on Completion’.

Child Care

Should be keyed where applicable and includes Nursery costs, Childminder costs, Child Care Vouchers and Before/After school clubs. Please check if a customer’s payslips show child care vouchers which should be keyed as a commitment

Student Loan

If a customer advises that they have not yet started making any payments this does not need to be included, but if they are or are about to start payments, then this should be keyed. Please check if a customer’s payslips show a student loan is being repaid and should be keyed as a commitment. When a student loan commitment is keyed it will be deducted in our affordability calculation, even if it is selected as being repaid upon completion

Other

Should be selected for any other regular committed expenditure which the applicant could not, or would not want to stop, and it doesn’t fit into any category. Anything keyed as ‘other’ will be deducted in our affordability calculation, even if it is selected as being repaid on completion.

'Accepted’

The loan amount requested is available; the maximum loan amount is the maximum based on affordability and maximum % loan to value limits will apply as normal.

‘Corrective Action Required to Proceed’

May show the loan requested is above the maximum % loan to value available on a particular application. If the applicants may be able to proceed on a lower loan amount you can try amending the loan amount and submit again to see if the application may be accepted at a lower level. You may find that the application can be accepted at a higher % LTV than the maximum % initially shown in the message, e.g. 65%, 85%.

‘Declined: Credit Score Fail’

If the applicants may be able to proceed on a lower loan amount to that requested you can try amending to a lower loan amount and submit again to see if the application may be accepted at a lower level. Please see our website Criteria ‘Appeal Credit Score Decline’ section for the only scenarios when an appeal is likely to be successful.

‘Declined: Based on Policy’

Will show the reasons for the decline and you should make any required changes to the application details. If an application is declined due to ‘unsecured debt’ please check both the credit commitments and customer income details have been keyed correctly. 

‘Alternative Lending Proposal’

Means the application has passed our credit score but the loan amount requested is greater than the maximum loan available based on our affordability calculation. The result message will include some quick checks that can be made to ensure the correct information has been taken into consideration on the DIP. If you make any keying changes based on the ALP please remember to submit again to obtain a new DIP decision.

Credit Commitments

• Have all credit commitments been keyed including anything to be repaid?
• Don’t forget commitments such as car hire purchase agreements (including Personal Contract Plan, PCPs), Buy Now Pay Later, mobile phones or other commitments that may show on the credit file.
• You should also include commitments which were recently cleared as these may still be shown on a credit search. Key those commitments as ‘to be repaid’.
• For all loans above 85% loan to value (LTV) – and for any other applications where we decide that it is prudent – we will deduct commitments as ongoing even where the customer has declared an intention to repay these.
• On a remortgage application has the mortgage to be replaced been keyed as a commitment which is being repaid?
• Has 5% of any credit card / store card balances been included within the commitments?
• Estate agent selling fees are sometimes applied as a credit entry with credit reference agencies/bureaus; as a single payment this can impact affordability if a matching commitment is not keyed as ‘to be repaid’.
• The ‘Other’ commitment type should only be selected where something doesn’t fit into any other category and this will be deducted as ongoing in our affordability calculation, even where it is keyed as being repaid on completion.
• Leasehold properties – if leasehold question is answered as Yes any ground rent/service charge commitments keyed will be included, or if these commitment types have not been keyed we will use assumed commitment amounts. If answer No to leasehold those commitment types won’t be deducted on the DIP even if keyed.
• Shared Equity / Shared Ownership schemes – check the customer % and interest/rent payment has been keyed correctly. Has the ‘purchase price’ field been completed as instructed e.g. on Shared Equity this is the purchase price of the whole property, but on Shared Ownership this is the value of the customer share? In our affordability calculation we may assume a minimum level of interest/rent which could be more than the amount declared as to be paid.

Income

• Have all incomes to be used in the affordability calculation been marked as Yes on the ‘Can the income be verified?’ question?
• For incomes received less frequently than monthly i.e. Yearly/Half Yearly/Quarterly e.g. bonus or commission, have you keyed the lower of (a) the total income earned in the last 12 months or (b) the average of the income earned in each of the last 2 years?
• Probationary - where the customer has an initial probationary period at the start of their permanent contract ‘Permanent’ should be selected or the income will not be used.
• Child benefit income keyed will not be included in our affordability calculation if any customer has a total income of more than £60,000.
• For self-employed customers has the correct income figure been keyed for the previous year where trading for at least 2 years? The self-employed income level used in our affordability calculation will be the lower of the latest year or the average of the last 2 years.

Lending into Retirement 

• Has a term been chosen that will take the applicant past the lower of the anticipated retirement age or maximum working age of 75 years? (Remortgages with additional borrowing (including unencumbered remortgages) and a small number of applications based on credit score, are restricted to a maximum working age of 70).
• Have you keyed the correct anticipated retirement age for all customers?
• If a term into retirement is required, has the ‘Retirement Income’ field been completed to check if the loan is affordable into retirement? If a projected pension income is lower than the current income, the lending will be based on the lower figure from the outset.

Properties in the background

• Have all mortgage commitments been keyed under credit commitments and where applicable has a gross rental income been keyed under ‘other income’ to offset those mortgage payments?
• All mortgages to remain must be keyed as credit commitments; where the property is currently let or to be let upon completion, the mortgage type must be keyed as ‘Buy to Let’ so that the mortgage payment is offset by rental income.
• When rental income is being received, this should be keyed as ‘Rental income (if rental property)’ regardless of whether the mortgage is held on a consent to lease / let or buy to let basis.
• ‘Residential’ properties in the background are subject to additional running costs and future costs associated to interest rate increases that cannot be offset against rental income

Fees being added

The maximum loan amount shown as available at DIP stage will include any fees that are to be added, e.g. product fees, please remember this when proceeding to Full Application. If an Alternative Lending Proposal message is being returned with a maximum loan amount which is the same as the loan requested, it will be that fees are being added taking it above that maximum.

Enhanced loan amounts if selecting a 5 years+ fixed rate

Purchase or remortgage customers up to 90% LTV selecting a fixed rate product with a term of 5 years or more may see an enhanced maximum loan amount available. Our website mortgage affordability calculator will indicate where this enhancement may be available and it will automatically be applied on a DIP by selecting ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Fixed rate product with a term of 5 years+’ on the Loan screen or when a qualifying product is selected on the application.

The whole loan amount must be on a 5 year+ fixed rate for any enhancement to apply ; where porting a product from an existing Halifax mortgage and topping-up with a new 5 year+ fixed rate the remaining term on the ported product would also have to be 5+ years.

Loan to Income (LTI) Limits

• Remember that the maximum loan amount on affordability may be capped based on income size, loan amount and % Loan to Value (LTV).
• The LTI limits applied by the website Mortgage affordability calculator will assume a certain level of credit score is achieved and the LTI applied at DIP may be lower if the credit score level is lower.
• See our website Criteria section for details of our LTI limits.
  

If a product is to be ported from the customer’s existing Halifax mortgage, make sure ‘Existing Customer’ has been chosen as ‘Purchase Type’ on Personal details screen.

Enter the customer’s existing mortgage roll number to show the products available /to port e.g. 10/12345678-9 is keyed as 101234567809 with a zero added where the number after the dash is a single final digit. If this comes up as a technical error please try the account number in a 14 digit format with two zeros added at the end e.g. 10123456780900.

If both of the above have been checked but the product to be ported still does not show please contact our Broker Support Team.

The system will show the amount available to port on the product; if a top up product is to be chosen for the balance of the new loan this would then be selected as normal.

For more information on porting please see our website Criteria ‘Porting Applications’ section.

Complete ‘EPC Information’ on the ‘Loan details’ screen where the EPC is known. If property information is not available at this stage just leave as ‘Please Select’.

When selecting a product make sure you are selecting the correct Green Home (starting with ‘G’) or standard product, or you may need to rekey the quote and produce another illustration later in the application.

The ‘EPC Details’ section will show on the Property screen at full application. Please select the correct property address from a dropdown list of available EPC records for that postcode (from our database which is based on the Government EPC register).

Check the EPC rating which shows is valid (within 10 years) and is the latest EPC available for the property as this is the EPC we’ll use for the application. If correct click ‘Next’ to proceed, but if the property address does not show in the list or the EPC details showing are not the latest you will need to manually key details of the EPC.

Click ‘Not In List’ if the address does not show, or ‘Add New EPC Certificate Details’ for an old/expired record and both will open up the fields so you can manually key the EPC details.

The ‘Exempt’ option must not be chosen unless the property is exempt from requiring an EPC, and the Exemption Form on our website forms page would then need to be completed to confirm why the property is exempt.

For a new build property where an EPC is not yet available a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA) or Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) rating is acceptable to be keyed and the builder / developer should provide this document to the customer.

On remortgages if there is no valid EPC in place either leave the ‘Current Energy Efficiency Rating’ as ‘Please Select’ or leave the expired record showing and proceed with the application.

We’ll automatically check eligibility for any Green Home product chosen, or to flag that a Green Home product has not been selected when the EPC indicates eligibility: if the message says the customer may be eligible for a Green Home product select yes/no depending on whether you are to change the product.

Once you have submitted an application please upload any required documents as soon as possible. Our Broker Support Team will review these documents within 24hrs and provide you with an email update.

For Premier loans of £650,000+ the dedicated Premier case owners will contact you once they have reviewed the application and documents.

Checklist

• Make sure you have uploaded all of the documents requested.
• Combine documents where relevant e.g. a customer’s payslips should be uploaded as a single document with the payslips in date order, and not as individual documents.
• Only upload the documents we have requested. 
• Have you checked the property address keyed and valuation access details are correct if needed.
• You only need to contact us on submission if there is anything additional we should know about the application e.g. Concessionary purchase ; New build where ‘other’ warranty provider is selected ; Porting a product from an existing Halifax mortgage.
• Use the Contact form to provide us any additional information.
• If you upload any documents throughout the application process these will be reviewed and actioned within 24hrs of receipt, do not call us as you will receive an email update.
• If you need to contact us about the application ensure you ‘Save/Exit’ the application first as otherwise our teams cannot access the application, do not use ’X’ to exit the screen

Reasons for income verification delays

• Payslips – payslip provided is not the latest; basic income keyed includes other elements of pay e.g. car allowance; poor quality documents e.g. poor photocopies; payslip does not show employer’s name.
• Self-employed - dividends exceed net profit ; accounts not finalised.
• Annual Regular/Guaranteed commission - income from commission is not supported by the 3 payslips to show sustainability of this income type.
• Annual guaranteed cash bonus – payslips provided do not show bonus paid or frequency.
• Annual regular overtime - payslips provided do not show overtime payments.
• Other incomes – other income types have been included in Gross Basic Salary e.g. car/town/area allowance.

Requirements when manual client identification is required

• Check application keying matches documents - document numbers are consistent with type i.e. driving licence number, passport number ; Name, address, DOB details keyed match details on documents ; Sort code and account number are keyed for bank statements.
• Photocopies must be legible when scanned and include name, address, date of issue, reference number.
• Each document must only be used once during the client identification process. For example, with a joint application, separate address documents are required for each client, i.e. a bank statement can only be used for one client and an additional address document will be required for the second customer.
• If documents are in maiden name a copy of marriage certificate required to complete audit trail.
• If any of the clients have not been seen face to face this must be entered correctly on the system.

How to certify a document

• Name of the certifier.
• Written confirmation from the certifier stating “I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of the original document as sighted by me”.
• Signature of the certifier.
• Date of certification, which must not be older than 3 months at the time of application.

At Decision In Principle (DIP) stage multiple changes can be made to the information keyed and an updated decision received.

After a Full Application has been submitted, even after a Mortgage Offer has been issued, most details can still be amended online without the need to call us; simply amend the details required and click ‘Submit’.

When you click ‘Submit’ your changes will be applied and if required a new decision would be displayed with any next steps.

If the application had previously been Offered and an ‘Accept’ decision is received after the changes are made, a new Offer will usually be automatically issued. If not please contact our Broker Support Team as we may need to review the application.

If you cannot make a change online please complete a Contact form and send this to us via Upload documents.

Please note any changes to customer details could impact the credit score or affordability result.

Revise property

If the property being purchased is changing, please first ensure that if the valuation is still in progress on the initial property that this has been cancelled/completed. Select the ‘Change property being purchased’ button on the Property screen and messages at the top of the screen will show the screens that need to be completed with details of the new property etc.

When changing property you will need to select a new product if the original product selected is no longer available on the current range.

A new valuation fee of £100 will also be required, unless the original valuation was not carried out.

If the property is not changing but a correction or an amendment is needed to the format, or spelling, of the property address keyed you should not click the ‘Change property being purchased’ button but instead should complete a Contact form to request our Broker Support Team make that amendment.