It can be massively frustrating to have a mortgage rejected at underwriting, particularly if you're keen to push on with your purchase.

Sometimes, you can resolve this by speaking with your lender and solving any concerns raised by the underwriter to request a new appraisal.

Most underwriter refusals relate to:

• Information on your application or missing from your application.
• Documents submitted being deemed unacceptable.
• Difficulties including all of your income streams.
• Being concerned with the reasons for the mortgage.

The trick here is to ensure your application is packaged in a way that mitigates risk and covers every point - so providing complete supporting documentation and evidence of deposit sources, so the underwriter is comfortable with your application.

Late payments aren't generally a severe credit issue, so it might be surprising to be turned down for a one-off late payment in the last six years!

Most rejections due to credit scores are more likely to be around a low credit score or a more serious credit issue that makes the mortgage too high a risk.

Low credit scores can happen because you haven't used much credit borrowing before, so it doesn’t mean you won't find a great deal elsewhere.

There are all sorts of reasons you could be turned down, such as:

• Not being registered on the electoral roll.
• Using your bank overdraft.
• Having high debts elsewhere.
• Being new to your job.
• Offering a low deposit.
• Having a high-risk occupation - which could include being a lorry driver or roofer.

Gambling recreationally isn't likely to have a massive impact on your mortgage application. However, severe gambling expenditure or being a professional gambler might make it tough to get a mortgage through a mainstream lender.

As a profession, gambling is a high risk since there isn't much stability or guarantee that your income levels will remain high.

Therefore, a lender will usually look for a long-term financial review to see how likely they think you are to keep up with your repayment schedule.

Unfortunately, yes. An agreement in principle, is an initial offer to lend, not a rock-solid loan agreement. Lenders can and do withdraw an offer when the application proceeds to the next underwriting stage.

If your mortgage has been declined after an agreement in principle, it's probably because of one of the following reasons

• Adverse credit - Underwriters take a deep dive into your credit history. If they find something you omitted from your original application, they might turn you down. Non-disclosures are serious and can be perceived as deliberate lying to secure a mortgage, so you must disclose everything relevant to your initial application. Revolution resolves this potential inadvertent mistake by performing due diligence checks before we send your application off. That means we know the adversities on the table and can explore the options with the lender before risking rejection.
• Criteria issues - As we've already seen, lenders have stacks of policies and eligibility criteria related to everything from income to types of employment, age, to debt. Some underwriters will decline an application because of a policy clause, even if the applicant passed the initial assessment with flying colours.

If a pre-approved mortgage is declined, the most probable reason is that the internal credit scoring process has thrown up an issue.

Some lenders use a nominal 'pass mark', and even if the application is otherwise sound, an underwriter can refuse a loan because of a simple score difference.

Specialist lenders are considerably more flexible, so they'll usually ask for context and assess the likelihood that the same credit issues will occur again.

Others don't use credit scoring at all - they assess each application on a case-by-case basis and look at more relevant factors such as your affordability and deposit without as much emphasis on a credit bureau score figure.

Revolution Brokers often hear from first-time buyers who have been turned down for a mortgage, and this is probably the most common scenario.

Usually, it's down to affordability or bad credit - or a combination of the two.

Lenders can also place additional demands on first-time buyers so that they might require a minimum annual salary of £20,000, for example.

There are plenty of solutions, such as a first-time buyer mortgage designed to help new homeowners get onto the property ladder, government backed mortgage guarantee schemes, or financial support through programmes like Help to Buy.

You shouldn't expect to reach the contract exchange stage and then be suddenly rejected for your mortgage, but it can happen.

If you're declined after having a full offer, it's usually because of an error on your application, such as incorrect income or incomplete address history.

In this scenario, the first stage is to try and get more information from your lender to establish what went wrong.

An independent, whole-of-market broker is a solution to pretty much any mortgage refusal.

Our UK mortgage experts can analyse your application, identify potential causes, and match your borrowing with a specific lender who we know will be happy to proceed.

The good news is that a declined mortgage with a hard credit search will only stay on your credit file for 12 months, so it's not a permanent issue.

Yes, if your mortgage is refused after valuation, it's probably because something in the surveyor's report causes concern.

That might be around the materials on the building, the construction type, or a higher risk situation such as a substantial amount of asbestos, which lowers the property's market value.

Otherwise, the surveyor might feel that the property will need extensive repair to become habitable and be deemed unsuitable for a conventional mortgage.

Down valuations are frustrating, but they do happen.

The correct action depends on the reason for your refusal, so that might be to carry out an independent appraisal, apply for an alternative borrowing product (such as development or bridging finance), or use a lender who is comfortable lending against non-standard properties.