Apply Online for a Decision in Principle
Our online Decision in Principle form takes around 5 minutes to complete.
There’s no fee, no effect on your credit rating, and no obligation to take out a mortgage with us.
Before you start, you will need the following information:
- The cost and location of the property you want to buy. If you do not have a specific property in mind, please provide estimates.
- How much you want to borrow (the property price minus your deposit).
- Employment status and salary of all applicants.
- Monthly cost of credit commitments for all applicants, such as loan, car finance, credit card and child maintenance payments. You don’t need to include living expenses such as food, petrol, bills and rent.
Decision in Principle - FAQs
A Decision in Principle is a certificate showing that a lender is willing to give you a mortgage based on the information you have provided.
You might have also heard it called a Mortgage in Principle, or an Agreement in Principle.
The lender will ask for some basic information to see if you can afford the mortgage you want to apply for.
If they think you can keep up the repayments, they will provide you with a Decision in Principle.
This depends on the lender, as different mortgage providers carry out different types of checks.
At Monmouthshire Building Society, we perform a ‘soft’ credit search at the Decision in Principle stage - this won’t affect your credit rating.
What is a 'soft' credit search?
A 'soft' credit check is not a full credit search, it is simply an enquiry against your credit history. A 'soft' search is not visible to any third parties looking at your credit file - the only person who will be able to see that this search took place is you. This means it has no effect on your credit rating.
How do we carry out credit searches?
Credit Reference Agencies help us carry out credit checks on potential borrowers. This means we have to share your information (such as name, date of birth and address) with Credit Reference Agencies in order to verify your identity and carry out the search.
The identities of the Credit Reference Agencies, their role also as Fraud Prevention Agencies, the data they hold, the ways in which they use and share personal information, their data retention periods and your data protection rights with them are explained in our Credit Reference Agency Information Notice.
Further details of how we use your information can be found in our Privacy Policy.
You will need to get a Decision in Principle before you make a full mortgage application.
It can be helpful to get a Decision in Principle while you are house-hunting, as estate agents and sellers will take any offers you make more seriously.
Bear in mind though, your lender will only honour the Decision in Principle for a limited amount of time - ours lasts around 30 days.
You’ll have to get another one if it runs out before you make a full mortgage application, so look for a Decision in Principle that won’t hurt your credit rating.
No - a Decision in Principle is based on limited information about you as a borrower, so it is not a guarantee.
If you proceed with a mortgage application the lender will carry out more in-depth checks. Based on these checks, the lender may decide that the mortgage you have requested isn't suitable for you at this time.
No. If you change your mind about which lender to go with, or decide not to buy at all, that’s not a problem.
As we don’t leave a ‘footprint’ on your credit file until you reach the full application stage, there are no consequences if you decide not to apply after receiving a Decision in Principle from us.
A Decision in Principle is free of charge from most lenders, including Monmouthshire Building Society.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
