How long does a mortgage offer last?

IF you’re looking to buy your dream home or preparing to remortgage you’ll want to know how long a mortgage offer lasts.

A mortgage offer is a formal confirmation that your application to borrow against your home is approved.

To get an offer you’ll need to compile all the documents required for your application.

It’s also worth considering a mortgage in principle which is a written statement from a lender showing your borrowing power.

As part of a full mortgage application, lenders may question the make-up of your income more closely, and carry out a stress test on your finances.

At this stage, you will need to provide certain items of paperwork, including up to six months’ of bank statements, as well as proof of ID and income.

If you’re remortgaging, getting a new mortgage offer could take less time and you could have one on the table within two weeks.

Here we take a closer look at how long an offer lasts and if you can get it extended.

How long does a mortgage offer last?

Most mortgage offers last for between three and six months.

The length of time your mortgage offer will last usually varies from lender to lender.

Since July 10, all customers approaching the end of a fixed-rate deal now have the chance to lock in a deal up to six months ahead.

The measure was implemented after the government announced its new Mortgage Charter to help households facing a mortgage shock prepare early.

What happens after I receive a mortgage offer?

Once you’ve received an offer you’ll have the chance to accept or reject the deal.

If you’re unhappy, you’ll need to start the process all over again and search for a new deal.

If you’ve accepted the offer and are buying a new home your solicitor or conveyancer will begin writing up an agreement with the seller to organise when you’ll exchange contracts.

At this point, you’re legally committed to binding the property and will find it difficult to back out unless you pay a hefty compensation fee.

Can I extend my mortgage offer?

As mortgage offers are designed to expire after a set amount of time, in most cases you won’t be able to extend the offer.

This is even more so the case if the offer has already expired.

However, certain circumstances may merit an extension and it’s always work reaching out to the lender to ask.

A typical extension, where possible, could add another month to the expiry date of the original offer.