Check your mortgage eligibility

Your ability to get a mortgage depends on a number of factors including the amount you're looking to borrow and the relative size of your deposit, along with your credit history. Some additional factors to consider include: your employment status and income, your credit rating, your expenses, your dependents, and your existing debt.

Before applying for a mortgage, you may want to work out your budget to get an idea of how much you can afford to cover your deposit and monthly repayments, and have enough spare for any associated fees.

You may need to try to reduce any existing debts and you may want to understand your credit score. You can get your score from your credit report. You're entitled to one free copy from each of the three credit reference agencies – Experian, Equifax and Call Credit.

Lenders will often have very widely varying policies about their lending criteria, credit history and how much they will lend. Before you apply for a mortgage, it's a good idea to increase your knowledge about your ability to borrow. If not, a failed application could impact your credit score and your future options.

We can help you get an eligibility check if you are a First Time Buyer, Home Mover or wanting to remortgage. We match your information with the affordability and eligibility criteria of the lenders who we work with on our panel. Each lender returns a unique result on their willingness to lend to you.

For more information on the companies in our lender panel, please see FAQ: 'Which companies provide my mortgage eligibility results?'

Please note that this service is not advice and does not look at whether a mortgage is suitable for your needs. Eligibility results from lenders are indicative only and may change if you choose to apply for a mortgage.

In short no, a soft search will not impact your credit score as lenders are not able to view it on your credit report as you're not actually applying for credit.

In order to work out how much you could borrow we need to conduct a "soft" credit search with a credit reference agency against your credit file.

However, you will be able to view it as "Compare the Market - Mortgage" when you access your credit report.

Our eligibility checking service provides you with a personalised check to let you know how much a select panel of lenders could lend you. What it doesn't do is show you mortgage rates and prices.

Our mortgage price comparison lets you view mortgage products and rates across the whole market. We return results based on your desired property price, deposit and over how long you're looking to borrow. These results do not provide an indication as to how much you could personally borrow.

We calculate your eligibility check based on the information you provided about your household, income, expenses, your borrowing requirements, and results of a soft credit bureau search. We base your results against a panel of lenders. Each lender returns a unique result on their willingness to lend to you. We've simplified this information and prepared a summary view to provide your eligibility amount or range.

The information we provide is a guide to help you understand your personal mortgage eligibility better. As a comparison service, we do not offer advice or recommendations in relation to specific mortgage products.

We ask only the necessary questions that lenders usually require when assessing your eligibility (such as how many dependents you have and your fixed financial commitments). Most lenders assume that your other expenses are similar to that of Office for National Statistics (ONS) averages for your location. However, your results may vary if you have significantly different living expenses than these averages or if you are looking at a listed or unusual property.

We show you an aggregated range of results from the lenders on our panel. Most lenders assume that your other expenses are similar to that of averages for your location established by the ONS. The results returned do not mean that you are eligible with all of the lenders on our panel. The amount you may be eligible to borrow could vary from lender to lender.

If you have questions about your specific situation, then it's best to talk to a mortgage adviser. Please speak to our trusted mortgage advisers, moneyQuest, at 0141 243 5633.

Compare the Market mortgage eligibility check uses lender criteria and results of a soft credit bureau search along with the information you provide. Each lender returns a unique result on their likely willingness to lend to you.

Some mortgage calculators only use a simple multiple of your income to estimate your eligibility, which is typically not very accurate. Other tools may ask lots of detailed questions about your personal and property criteria, but do not provide insight based on indicators only available in your credit file.

Compare the Market has selected Runpath Regulated Services Limited (RRS) to provide you with this service. As part of the indicative eligibility checking service, RRS will need to retrieve and use data from one or more of the three main Credit Reference Agencies in order to provide your eligibility results.

For more information about RRS, and about how your data will be used, please see our privacy policy.