How does it work?

The Financial Conduct Authority, who regulate financial services in the UK, introduced updated rules for mortgage lenders and advisers. These rules came into force on 26 April 2014.

As a result of these changes, in certain circumstances, you can apply to us for a mortgage without taking advice, this is known as an "execution only" mortgage application. You can only do this online; however, you will need to know the details of the mortgage you want, and be able to deal with the application yourself without speaking to an adviser.

Applying for a mortgage online with Yorkshire Building Society

If you choose to apply for a mortgage online with us please ensure you understand how we will process your mortgage application by carefully reading the important information on this page.

We also have a range of online tools to help you in making decisions regarding your mortgage application:

Once you apply for a mortgage online and we have received your application we will complete an assessment based on the information you have given in addition to what we have found on your credit file. We will then contact you by email to confirm who will be processing your online mortgage application. We will provide you with a list of documents that we will need in order to issue you with a mortgage offer. To help in getting a mortgage offer sooner, please review our lending criteria guide . Within this section you will find a list of documents we will usually request.

When processing your online mortgage application we will regularly update you by email. If we need to discuss your application in more detail with you, we will call you. You will be provided with the email address of your processing team when we receive your application should you need to contact us.

There are two ways you can apply for a mortgage with YBS

Getting a Decision in Principle online without advice

Before you can apply for a mortgage, your first step is to get an approved Decision in Principle from us. This confirms that we are be prepared to lend to you. We call this confirmation an Decision in Principle (DIP). Once you have this you can move on to the next step - a Full Mortgage Application.

If you apply online for your Decision in Principle, this is known as an 'execution only' application, meaning that you won't be eligible to receive advice on your Decision in Principle application. However, if at any time after you start your application you wish to receive advice you can elect to do your Decision in Principle over the phone. Our online Decision in Principles are also 'portable' which means once you've obtained a Decision in Principle you can call us to apply for your full mortgage application with the benefit of advice.

Applying for a mortgage online without advice

Our online mortgage application is also 'execution only' and is designed for those customers who have a good understanding of the mortgage application process and that have identified the product they wish to apply for. Before applying for a mortgage online you must be aware of the following:

  • The product you wish to apply for including the interest rate and term of it.
  • Interest rate type e.g. fixed, or variable.
  • The early repayment charges associated with the product
  • The price or value of the property you are looking to purchase or remortgage
  • The loan amount required of loan you wish to borrow
  • The length of term required

If you choose to proceed down the 'execution only' route without receiving any advice, we will not be able to provide guidance on any of the above throughout the application. However, you will be able to move the application to our call centre channels where you can access full mortgage advice.

If you are unsure on any of the above a mortgage application with advice may be more suitable for you.

Mortgage application with advice

A mortgage is likely to be the largest financial commitment you make in life, therefore you may benefit from speaking to one of our mortgage advisers over the phone.

A mortgage adviser will be able to review your incomings and outgoings and make a suitable mortgage term and product recommendation to suit your individual needs.

An adviser will be able to provide guidance on the following, amongst other points depending on your circumstances and needs:

  • Mortgage term
  • The Interest rate on your chosen mortgage deal vs the product fee you may have to pay for selected deals where the interest rate is lower
  • The affordability of the loan
  • If a fixed or variable rate would best suit your circumstances.

Making changes once you have applied for a mortgage online

If you would like to make any changes to your online application, the case manager dealing with your application cannot advise you on these changes but can take instruction from you on what changes you require. All requests to make changes must be made by email or by post.

Applying for a mortgage online: Frequently asked questions

If you wish to proceed with your application you may want to consider:

  • Reducing the amount you wish to borrow
  • Extending your mortgage term, providing this doesn’t take you beyond retirement age

You should also use our online borrowing calculator to review how much you need to borrow. When we assess your mortgage application, we use both your income and outgoings to determine how much we can lend you. We collect information available from Credit Reference Agencies, bank statements and what you have given or told us. If we find details of additional outgoings that were not declared on your application this may affect the maximum amount you can borrow.

You may be able to amend your loan amount if:

  • We have reviewed your income and outgoings and the new loan amount fits within our maximum loan criteria and
  • If the loan is to be increased, this is within the current LTV (Loan to Value) for the product you have applied for. Please note that if the product has been withdrawn from sale since you applied we can only increase your loan by a maximum of 10% or £15,000 (whichever is lower) based on the original amount you applied for. For amounts exceeding this you will need to select a new product for the additional loan. You can view our product range here.

You can contact your Case Manager to make any applicable changes to your application. When we begin processing your application, you’ll be sent an email with contact details for your Case Manager.

The Loan to Value (LTV) is the amount you borrow for your mortgage as a percentage of the purchase price of the property or the valuation amount, whichever is the lower of the two. For example:

Purchase Price - £100,000
Loan Amount - £85,000
LTV = 85%

Whilst your mortgage application is being processed you can change the product you have chosen to any that is currently available. This is subject to:

  • The LTV in relation to your loan remaining within the restrictions of the product selected.

You can view our product range here.

If you want to change the term of your mortgage you can do so subject to the following criteria being met:

  • Minimum Term 5 years
  • Maximum Term 40 years
  • The mortgage term must end before any applicant reaches age 70 (if you would like the mortgage to extend beyond age 70 you must proceed with your application on an advised basis by calling us).
  • The term selected must still mean your mortgage is affordable. Use our online borrowing calculator to find out the maximum you can borrow over any term

You can contact your case manager to make any applicable changes to your application. When we begin processing your application, you’ll be sent an email with contact details for your Case Manager.

If you change how you want to pay any applicable fees while your application is being processed please email your processing team.

With some of our mortgages, you may have to pay a product fee. This will be shown in the key mortgage information on each of our product pages. You can choose to pay this fee upfront or if it’s affordable, you can add it to your loan. If you are adding the fee to your loan, the maximum loan we have calculated must be enough to cover both the loan and the product fee, and you will pay interest on the product fee at the same rate as the rest of your loan.

A valuation fee may also be payable on selected products which must be paid before we can instruct this for you. If the valuation has already taken place, this fee is non-refundable even if your mortgage does not complete.

For further information about how we assess the value of the property please review our guide to valuations.

Unless you tell us otherwise, we will instruct the valuation as soon as we begin to process your application. If there is a fee payable for your valuation this will have been confirmed to you during your online application and must be paid. Once a valuation has been carried out, we can't refund the fee even if your mortgage does not go ahead.

If you wish to proceed with your application you may want to consider;

  • Reduce your borrowing amount to remain within the specific Loan to Value (LTV) limit of the product you have chosen (if applicable) or
  • Keep the amount you wish to borrow, but switch to another product with a higher LTV limit. Please note the maximum LTV permitted for an online application is 90%. If you need to borrow more than 90% of the value of the property you will need to receive advice. Please review the FAQ below: What if I want to receive advice regarding my application?

If you are purchasing a property and it is down valued, this means the independent valuer has used their professional opinion and in the current market does not think the value of the property matches the purchase price. This may mean that you no longer qualify for a product with a specific Loan to Value (LTV) limit. In this circumstance, you may wish to negotiate the purchase price with the property seller.

If you are remortgaging and the valuer down values your property, this means you may not be able to borrow as much as you would like.

If your property has been down valued, your Case Manager will be in contact to let you know your options.

There may be occasions where a property is not acceptable as security for a mortgage. Some reasons why a property may not be acceptable are:

  • The construction of the property has been made using non-standard materials
  • Title defects such as inadequate rights of way
  • Tenure/property types – such as studio or freehold flats

You may still be able to proceed with your application if you choose an alternative property.

When the valuer visited the property they identified some possible work may be required. You will need to obtain and provide us with the reports that have been requested. A copy of the reports will be sent to the valuer, who will confirm if the work identified needs to be carried out as a condition of the mortgage.

In some cases, we may hold back some of the loan until you supply evidence (usually in the form of an invoice) that the work has been carried out. This is referred to as ‘a retention’. Once we receive the invoices we will refer these to the valuer, who will confirm if the retention funds can be released.

If you would like to discuss your options and receive advice from us you can call us.

You can also request an appointment with a mortgage adviser online.

All our online Decision in Principles are transferable so if you have already obtained a Decision in Principle online but would now like to receive some advice, the mortgage adviser you speak to will be able to access the information you gave us online and will use this when undertaking a full assessment of your financial needs and circumstances.

For applications already in progress our address is:

Central Processing Team,
Yorkshire House,
Yorkshire Drive,
Bradford
BD5 8LJ

Please include your application number on anything you send to us.

The maximum amount of incentives we allow on a new build property is 5% of the purchase price. If the incentive amount exceeds this we will deduct the excess amount from the purchase price and recalculate the Loan to Value accordingly. See our example below for how this would work in practice:

Purchase price = £100,000
Loan Amount = £ 85,000
Current Loan to Value = 85% (the loan amount is 85% of the purchase price)
Incentives = £10,000

This would be 10% of the total property value; therefore this exceeds the maximum allowed by 5% (£5,000). We will therefore deduct £5,000 from the purchase price to calculate your new purchase price and your new Loan to Value:

Purchase price (£100,000) – incentive amount exceeding 5% (£5,000) = ‘New Purchase Price’ (£95,000) Therefore your new Loan to Value would be:

Loan amount (£85,000) ÷ New Purchase Price (£95,000) x 100 = new LTV (89.47%)

This may mean that you no longer qualify for a product with a specific Loan to Value (LTV) limit

If you wish to proceed with your application you can either;

  • Reduce your borrowing amount to remain within the specific LTV limit.
  • Keep the amount you wish to borrow, but switch to another product with a higher LTV limit.

Call us or book an appointment

Speak to one of our friendly advisers about your options.

9am - 5pm Mon-Fri
9am - 1pm Sat