When your mortgage application is rejected, it can feel highly disappointing. However, you're not alone, and many people have their applications turned down for one of the following reasons.

• Your credit report shows defaults in the last 12 months.

Like most high street banks, Santander has robust policies around credit assessments. If you have even a minor default in the last year, you won't be able to apply until this has cleared from your credit record.

• The property survey reported the home was of 'non-standard' construction.

Non-standard construction can mean anything from a thatched roof to a timber frame. Plenty of mainstream lenders are reluctant to lend against any property that isn't typical brick and mortar construction.

In some cases, lenders will agree on a mortgage in principle but then withdraw the offer after a full valuation report if any of the property doesn't comply with standardised materials.

• You have been rejected based on your age.

Santander has age limits that can prohibit some applicants from being approved. Generally, if you are approaching 70, you will be rejected. Likewise, if the term will extend for, say, 10 or 20 years and you will be over 75 at that point, your application is also likely to be refused.

• You have made a self-employed business loss.

Making a loss in some years is a normal part of business, but high street banks will often refuse any applicant who has had any losses filed recently.

Santander is one of the banks with an automatic refusal policy for any self-employed mortgage applicant who made a loss the previous year.     

• Your income includes gambling wins.

Gambling is always a contentious issue with mortgage lenders, many of which will not include any element of gambling income.

They may also reject any applicant with a history of gambling - Santander categorises this as anybody with frequent gambling transactions, whether profitable or not.

These scenarios represent just a few of the typical reasons for a rejected Santander mortgage but are not exhaustive.

Fortunately, many of the limitations enforced by high street banks are easily overcome by consulting an independent, whole-of-market team such as Revolution Brokers.

We work with thousands of mortgage applicants who have been turned down for a seemingly minor reason.

There is almost always a simple answer. The client achieves a successful application by using a lender with more flexible policies or that specialises in a sector such as self-employed mortgages or non-standard construction mortgages.

Let's look at the dos and don'ts if you've just had a mortgage rejection from Santander:

• DON'T immediately look for someone else to apply to. The chances are that another high street bank will return the same answer, and you could damage your credit report by making multiple failed applications.
• DO ask for a reason why your application has been refused. If you know why your broker will be in a much better position to tailor your advice to the specific rejection reason and overcome any challenges.
• DO contact the Revolution Brokers team. We are an independent broker working with all sorts of clients to ensure they find the mortgage borrowing they need, whether or not a mainstream lender has turned them down based on a policy or eligibility criteria.