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Agreement in Principle

Take the first step to your mortgage

Start an Agreement in Principle (AiP) online to find out quickly if you could borrow the amount you need – without affecting your credit score. 

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Before you begin

If you don’t have a minimum 5% deposit, you might be eligible for our Family Springboard Mortgage. Use our affordability calculator to see how much you could borrow. 

What’s an Agreement in Principle?

An Agreement in Principle is a simple way to find out if you can borrow the amount you need to buy or remortgage a house or flat, without a full credit check. You don’t need to bank with us – just tell us how much you want to borrow, what your income and regular spending is and we’ll give you an answer straight away.

You’re not committing to anything and you're not tied to a particular type of deal if you decide to apply for a mortgage with us. Just remember that an AiP isn't a guarantee we'll lend to you.

Get your AiP

Start a new AiP or resume a saved one – once completed, you’ll get your result straight away.

Your mortgage appointment

If you decide to apply for a mortgage, we’ll arrange to speak to you by phone. Learn more about preparing for your mortgage appointment.

Want a buy-to-let mortgage? Use our calculator to see how much you could borrow.

How long does an Agreement in Principle last?

Assuming there's no change to the details you've given us about your income, regular spending and any debts you might have, your AiP will last for 90 days. It's a good idea to complete another AiP if any of those details or your circumstances change, as it could affect your AiP outcome.

What does an AiP mean?

AiP stands for ‘agreement in principle’ for a mortgage. Some lenders call it a mortgage in principle. It’s an indication that we could lend a specified amount, based on details you’ve provided about your income, spending and debts. If you decide to apply for a mortgage, we’ll ask you more detailed questions about your finances to see how much you can borrow from us. Then, with your consent, we’ll check your full credit history with credit reference agencies.

Does a mortgage in principle affect your credit score?

A mortgage in principle doesn’t affect your credit score’. Unlike making a mortgage application, we don't run a full credit check on you for an Agreement in Principle. Instead we ask credit reference agencies to confirm whether certain details you enter on the AiP form match what they hold on your credit file. We don’t check your full history with credit reference agencies until you apply for a mortgage.

Does an AiP guarantee I’ll get a mortgage?

An AiP doesn’t guarantee you can get a mortgage, but it will give you an idea of whether we'd be willing to lend the amount you need. If you apply for a mortgage, we'll need to check your income, credit history and financial circumstances, and consider whether you can afford the mortgage payments both now and in the future.

Can I get an AiP if I’ve had money problems in the past?

You might be able to get an AiP even if you know you've had some money problems in the past. Depending on your circumstances, we might need to speak to you before we offer you an AiP. Find out why it's a good idea to understand the mortgage lending rules we have to follow.

Just remember that if you apply for a mortgage, we'll ask you detailed questions about your credit history. So it may affect our decision to lend if you have

  • Been issued with a bankruptcy order in the past 6 years
  • Had a County Court Judgment for debt that you haven't repaid within the past 6 years
  • Been refused for a mortgage or had a home repossessed in the past 6 years
  • Have less than 3 months' employment history

How will the information I provide for an AiP be used?

We’re committed to protecting your personal data. We’ll use your information for a number of different purposes – for example, to manage your accounts, to provide our products and services to you and others and to meet our legal and regulatory obligations. We may also share your information with our trusted third parties for these purposes. You can read more detailed information on how and why we use your information, including the rights in relation to your personal data, and our legal grounds for using it.

Credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies

In order to process your application, we’ll supply your personal information to credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies and they will give us information about you, such as about your financial history. We do this to assess creditworthiness and product suitability, check your identity, manage your account, trace and recover debts and prevent criminal activity. These agencies may in turn share your personal information with other organisations. If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance or employment. Once you open an account with us, we will share account data with the credit reference agencies on an ongoing basis.

If false or inaccurate information is provided to us and fraud is identified, details may be passed to credit reference and fraud prevention agencies to prevent fraud and money laundering and to verify your identity.

The Credit Reference Agency Information Notice (CRAIN) describes how the three main credit reference agencies in the UK each use and share personal data. The CRAIN is available on the credit reference agencies’ websites.

www.transunion.co.uk/crain
www.equifax.co.uk/crain
www.experian.co.uk/crain

See more on how these agencies might use your information.

You can ask us for a copy of any of the documents or information mentioned above.

You can also check our full mortgage range [PDF, 317KB] to see if our other mortgages are suitable for you, download our tariff of mortgage charges [PDF, 265KB] and read our legal information.