Building a credit score....

[richard300]

How long, how hard is it to build up a credit history in Australia?

 

Just imagining that we had been in Australia for 2 years and it was everything we wanted it to be. And had no plans to move back to the UK.

 

Say we wanted to buy a house or have a bank loan etc - Would we be credit worthy (if we had both worked and have bank accounts)

 

Do our UK credit scores get included?

 

Or is it really hard to get to the point where banks and mortgage companies will lend money to ex-pats?

 

 

Ofcourse im working on normal things applying, such as regular income and how much that income is.

[jo_marnes]

We had been here 6 mths, were able to buy with a large deposit. UK credit history not used. We have no credit cards and only had one income. And we only had temporary residency at the time.

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

Credit works a little differently out here - instead of being 'rewarded' with more credit for taking credit out, you get a sort of 'credit limit' overall based on your income/outgoings (things like rent not things like cinema visits), and the more you chip into that limit, the less you have left to get. An EG explains it better - if you are earning $85K a year, you might be allowed a mortgage of around $400k if you have no credit cards (either with or without spending on them) (these are random figures btw NOT any indication of how much credit one might get), but if you have a salary of $85K and three credit cards with a limit of $10K on each, you may only be able to get a mortgage of around $300K (again, the figures are NOT relative to any specific amount,, they are only used to explain what my silly brain is too cold to explain today lol).

 

From what I have heard from everyone I have spoken to - if you have a job, and a deposit (not a tiny one, but not nec. a HUGE one either), you probably would be able to get credit within 6 months, if not sooner. The housing market hasn't died like in the UK, banks are lending here, and the economy has a far more positive feel to it than the UK.

 

Ditto on the UK credit score isn't taken into account here (they aren't allowed to, due to Data Protection, or some such Act, being only valid in the EU (or something - not sure 100% on the actual legal speak of it, but basically they aren't allowed to use the UK Credit Data over here). Proof of regular payments (statements etc) from the UK can only help though if you have the pieces of paper (and doesn;'t really cause hassle to bring them with you I guess)

[richard300]

Thanks you the advice.....

 

I only wondered about the UK credit score as both my wife and i have a perfect record and top rating. However we both have personal loans that still have 4 years left to run. Now be both fully intend to make sure these loan re-payments are met every month by transfering part of our wages in Australia into UK bank accounts.

 

So, i guess whilst the loans themselves wont be applicable for a credit rating in Australia - should (do you think) we declare the monthy outgoing when applying for a mortgage (if we decided to) in Australia?

[Guest Bonnydoon7]

Hi Richard300

It is my understanding that you have to declare any existing commitments you have when applying for a loan, as the banks need to assess your ability to meet your monthly repayment obligations.