Dubbed the unlucky generation, nearly one in five (17%) millennials think they won’t accepted for a mortgage and one in 10 have ‘given up’ altogether.
Nurture your score
This low morale among the young generation has prompted free-for-life credit report and score provider Noddle.co.uk to launch its Cred & Breakfast initiative in an attempt to help.
At the first pop up event earlier this week at The Breakfast Club in London, nearly 100 millennials received personal guidance specifically designed to help them get them onto the property ladder.
For those who weren’t able to attend, Jacqueline Dewey, Managing Director at Noddle.co.uk has compiled some advice to help millennials get ready for home-buying:
- Take stock: Anyone who fears they have poor credit should check their credit report at Noddle.co.uk. It’s a free-for-life service that tells you your score and gives you a snapshot of any outstanding credit
- Nurture your score: For people who have a limited credit history, there are lots of things you can do to boost your score. Registering to vote and taking out a small amount of credit (such as a credit card) that you pay off on time each month helps to show lenders that you are responsible
- Don’t expect results over night: Positive steps that you make can take a while to take effect. For example, the fact that you’ve registered to vote will only be taken into account for your credit score once the local authority updates the information at their end
- Do some housekeeping: If you have a poor credit history I’d advise closing any old credit accounts you don’t use - they may be charging you unnecessary fees and can count against you when lenders are checking your score. If you’ve ever opened a joint bank account or mortgage with an ex-partner you may still be linked to them financially, so their debts could be affecting you too
- Don’t apply too many times: If you’ve taken out lots of applications at once it makes it look like you’re reliant on credit – and this can affect your score. Try to hold off from taking out more credit for a while and you should see your score start to improve.
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