From Saturday 26 April, if you want to take out a mortgage to buy a property or you want to re-mortgage, expect a lot more questions from the mortgage lender or broker about how you spend your money. 

The mortgage lending industry has been forced to introduce tougher new rules (part of something called the ‘mortgage market review’), which are designed to make sure that banks only lend to people who can afford to pay back their mortgage.

This means banks and building societies are asking a lot more questions about what you spend your money on and they’ll want to know that you can continue to afford your mortgage if interest rates rise.

It is now even more important that you make payments to things like your credit card or mobile phone contract on time and that – preferably – your bank account is in the black.