HSBC has launched a new approval service to help house hunters get their mortgages signed off in just 24 hours.
The in-branch ‘Mortgage in a Day’ service is now available now in 547 branches across the country, as well as over the phone.
In the majority of cases where customers are able to provide all the necessary documents for a case to approve locally, it will be able to provide both a one stage mortgage appointment and one day approval, the bank claimed.
One of the bank’s mortgage specialists will take the customer through the process, then to ensure the customer has all the right documents, the bank will call 24 to 48 hours before the meeting to remind the customer what to bring, with a branch manager then approving the application.
The service is available across all residential mortgage applications.
It is not available for those who are under 18, self-employed or a non-EU nationals; unless they are a Premier customer.
Research commissioned by the bank - carried out among 2,022 UK homeowners and home hunters at the start of April - found it takes just 26 hours for most people to decide to make an offer on a house purchase; the same amount of time spent deciding on whether or not to buy a new pair of shoes.
One in 10 decided to put an offer on a house in under two minutes when viewing a property, whilst only 2 per cent can choose what to wear on a date in this time frame, according to the findings.
The decision to buy a house is rapid, but the process is notoriously long and complicated, with the average house hunt taking 89 days. When it comes to mortgage applications, 38 per cent of respondents stated the process took longer than expected.
Half said it took up to three weeks to get their most recent application approved, while one in 10 wished they had more help with their mortgage.
Time taken to make decisions comparison table:
Decisions to make | Average time spent | Women | Men | Quickest decision makers: | Slowest decision makers: | Londoners |
Booking a holiday | 115 hours (5 days) | 138 hours (6 days) | 92 hours (4 days) | Londoners: 76 hours (3 days) | East Midlands: 143 hours (6 days) | 76 hours (3 days) |
What to make for a dinner party | 31 hours | 39 hours | 23 hours | Wales: 14 hours | South East: 43 hours | 24 hours |
Making an offer on a house | 26 hours | 26 hours | 26 hours | North West: 20 hours | West Midlands: 40 hours | 24 hours |
Buying a pair of shoes | 25 hours | 35 hours | 16 hours | Northern Ireland: 8 hours | East Midlands: 36 hours | 22 hours |
Deciding where to go / what to wear on a date | 17 hours | 26 hours | 10 hours | North East: 11 hours | York and Humber: 26 hours | 15 hours |
Buying a pair of jeans | 17 hours | 22 hours | 13 hours | Northern Ireland: 6 hours | East Midlands: 22 hours | 19 hours |
Tracie Pearce, HSBC’s head of mortgages, said: “Getting a mortgage approved in less than 24 hours can make all the difference in helping house hunters achieve their goals more quickly.”
At the start of this week, new digital mortgage broker Habito launched with the promise of finding borrowers the best mortgage for them within around half an hour.
A mortgage broker who wished to remain anonymous told FTAdviser it usually takes him an hour and a half to complete a mortgage questionnaire and go through the documents, before then taking half an hour to complete the application, along with further time on quotes and comparisons, and uploading documents for the lender and underwriter for review.
“We try and supply all the documents at the start of an application, it takes the best of lenders 24 to 48 hours to review and confirm the documents are OK and haven’t missed out a payslip or bank statement.
“I think there is a reason why all mortgage lenders have a centralised mortgage processing centre and accept mortgage business from regulated mortgage advisers, with the main exception of HSBC,” he added.
peter.walker@ft.com
