Nationwide mortgages

You can apply for a Nationwide decision in principle, also known as a mortgage in principle both online and in branch.

Nationwide customers have the option to overpay their mortgage by 10% of the remaining outstanding balance per year, as standard.

Self-employed mortgages are not actually a product, but this term is often used to describe lenders that offer their range of mortgages to self-employed individuals.

Nationwide do accept self-employed mortgage applications, so long as the applicant is able to demonstrate proof of their self-employed income for a minimum period of 24 months.

All Nationwide mortgage offers are valid for 180 days, both for new-build and older properties.

Lenders don’t often quote approval rates, as approval time can vary significantly, however, Nationwide are very transparent, quoting their measured service standards for each stage of the application on their website. 

At the time of writing, the Nationwide website quotes that the current average length of time from application to offer is around 10 days, and 19 days for referred cases.

Lenders reject any applications that don’t fully meet their lending criteria, but Nationwide are fairly flexible compared to many high street banks, probably given their mutual status as a building society. Nevertheless, you’re most likely to be rejected by Nationwide if: Their property valuation doesn’t match up to your requested loan amount You have more serious bad credit, such as a DMP, IVA or bankruptcy You’re unable to provide an address history of at least three years You’ve been self-employed for less than 24 months You’re reliant on non-standard income (bonuses etc) to boost your affordability If you’re unable to meet the criteria of Nationwide, however, a mortgage broker will be able to help you look at more flexible specialist lenders.

Nationwide will consider some bad credit applicants, such as those with defaults and CCJs, as well as satisfied DMPs (debt management plan) - although ongoing DMPs are not accepted. 

They will also look at discharged bankruptcy after three years, which is fairly flexible for a high street lender, as many require six years clear of this type of debt. However, they will still want to know the details of any credit issues that you have and assess on a case by case basis.