Credit scores are one of the most important factors that lenders consider when someone applies for a home loan. An individual’s score is considered to be an indicator of his or her creditworthiness. It goes without saying that the higher your credit score, the more likely it will be that you get approved for a home loan.

You can use a minimum score of 640 as a guideline that will determine if you will qualify for a mortgage or not. If it's lower than 640 then you will have a hard time getting approved for a home loan.

Factors that are used to calculate a person's score include: the amount of credit you have currently available, your history of making payments on time or not etc.
If your score is low at the moment it will be better to try and improve your score before applying for a mortgage loan.

One of the best ways to improve your credit score is to pay your accounts on time. A history of prompt payments will show lenders that you take your debts seriously.

Avoid taking out too much credit. For the best credit rating try to have only one or two credit cards and one or two major debts (like your mortgage and car) If you have a lot of credit cards, try to make sure that you use no more than 50% of your credit.

For example if your credit card has a limit of R10 000, make sure that you don't use more than R5 000. If you can get it lower than 50% it will be even better. What's important to remember is, the lower the percentage of your total credit limit you are using, the better.

It's not uncommon for errors to show up on credit reports, so be sure to check your credit score on a regular basis.