Holiday Let Mortgage In Principle

There are some fantastic holiday cottage bargains around at the moment, as we discussed in our article about holiday let bargains for 2026. But because great property bargains usually attract a flurry of keen buyers, you’ll want to be ready to press ‘go’. When you have a Holiday Let Mortgage In Principle (MIP) in place you can move faster, securing that all-time bargain before potential buyers who aren’t quite as well organised as you.

In this article we’ll tell you all about holiday let mortgage MIPs and look at how we’ll help get yours up and running.

What are holiday let mortgage MIPs?

In the UK we mostly call it a Mortgage In Principle or MIP. It can also be called a DIP – a Decision In Principle, or even an AIP – an Agreement In Principle. Either way it means the same thing. Because you’ve taken the trouble to find out how much you can borrow beforehand, you can move quickly as soon as the perfect property turns up for sale.

Why you need a Mortgage In Principle

Imagine this. You’ve travelled down to Cornwall to view three or four stunning holiday cottages for sale. You fall in love with one of them. Other buyers are also sniffing around. Time is short. You don’t want to lose it. Luckily you’re the only one with a MIP in place.

The estate agent is pleased because it means they can be fairly sure you’ll secure a mortgage for the amount needed. The seller is pleased because your MIP shortens the sales process as well as providing peace of mind from the offset. You can put in an offer with confidence and if it’s accepted, you’ll be able to arrange your mortgage quickly because a lot of the legwork has already been done.

Having a holiday let MIP is beneficial for other reasons, too. It’s handy for budgeting. Because it provides you with a basic, reasonably realistic idea of how much you can spend, you can focus your energies on properties within your price range, avoid being disappointed and prevent wasting valuable time.

As an informal early Credit Check, a MIP can surface potential credit issues early on, so you can fix them before making a formal application for a holiday let mortgage. It might involve finding a bigger deposit, dealing with inconsistencies or discrepancies in the information you’ve supplied, or providing more information about a recent job change.

As a serious buyer, it can deliver an extra layer of credibility that can make all the difference when two or more parties are interested in buying the same holiday let as you. This is particularly important in a competitive market, which is what we often see when the prices dip in a popular tourist area.

Are MIPs different for holiday let mortgages?

The short answer is ‘yes’. If you’re simply buying a home to live in, you can request a MIP from your mortgage lender in the normal way, giving you an early indication that in principle you’re eligible to borrow a certain amount. The process involves either a ‘Hard’ credit search, where the lender reviews your full credit report and this search impacts your credit score, or a ‘Soft’ credit search, a less intrusive check that doesn’t affect your credit rating but is still visible on your report.

MIPs for holiday let mortgages are a bit more complex, simply because all holiday let mortgages are manually underwritten. There’s no such thing as an automated holiday cottage loan system giving you an instant decision without human intervention. Every stage of a mortgage for a holiday let has eyes on it. Therefore, getting a holiday let mortgage MIP without first submitting a mortgage application is more tricky.

We provide special MIPs for holiday let mortgage customers

Because they’re so useful to buyers, sellers and estate agents, we’ve created our own holiday let MIP Certificate lasting 90 days from the date we issue it. We’ll ask you to create an account with us online then complete our fact-finding form, upload your credit report, and tell us all about the property you are looking at, if you’ve already begun searching.

If you haven’t started looking yet, we can work with the information you’ve got up to that point. At no stage do we need to run a Hard or Soft credit search, simply because we’re not arranging a MIP with a lender. So there’s no risk of your credit score being tarnished.

Once the form is complete we’ll go through everything to make sure all is well, check your credit report, look at the property you want to buy if you have one in mind, and ask at least one lender if they would support your borrowing plans.

If the answer is yes, we create a manual holiday let MIP document for you. It’s basically a one-page .pdf confirming that, in principle, based on the information you’ve provided, you should be able to borrow the amount you need. While it isn’t a guarantee, it is an extremely helpful indication to help smooth the buying process.

Get holiday let mortgage MIPs to move confidently with purpose

Having a MIP in your back pocket shows estate agents you mean business. Because it’s quite a long process, requiring a lot of work from us and lots of information from you, it’s only suitable when you’re serious. We don’t charge you, we’re happy to do it to support our customers as a goodwill gesture, part of the cost of doing good business.

More tips to be prepared

When there are this many bargains around, being prepared in every possible way can make all the difference between securing the holiday cottage you want or losing it to someone else. Here are a couple more articles you might like to read to get your ducks in a row.

• 10 Tips When Buying a UK Holiday Let Property.
• Understanding Holiday Let Stamp Duty.

We’re always happy to help with expert insight into holiday let mortgage MIPs. Feel free to contact the team with any questions you might have or if you want to request your own MIP now, just click below to create an account and get started!