The expert spoke about the impact of a credit rating on mortgage approval and its size.

According to the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBKI), Russian banks approve only 21.4% of loan applications as of July 2025. One of the reasons for high refusals may be banks' requirements for a high credit rating of borrowers. Julian Ovechkin, head of the mortgage department at Level Group, told Izvestia on September 10 how such a rating is formed and whether it really affects the issuance of loans.

The expert notes that despite the surge in lending volumes, the demand structure remains stable: in July, banks provided loans to Russians for 917.2 billion rubles. This is the maximum value since October last year. Compared to June, the increase was 17.5%, which was the fastest increase since March 2024. At the same time, the share of mortgage transactions in our sales has not changed over the past three months and remains at the level of 67-68%. We also do not see an increase in the number of mortgage refusals in partner banks.

According to Ovechkin, one of the selection tools is the borrower's credit rating. As the expert explains, "this is an individual scoring assessment of each client, which is carried out by the bank when considering any loan application. Indeed, the higher the score, the more likely it is to receive a positive decision."

At the same time, as Ovechkin notes, a credit rating is not an absolute filter for approving a loan and does not accurately determine its amount. "Each bank has its own financial model, so a client who scores, for example, 700 points on scoring may eventually receive a refusal from one bank and a positive decision from another. In this case, in practice, approval from the second bank may be at a higher interest rate, if we are talking about a market mortgage, or with the condition of making a larger down payment than the program originally intended.

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The scoring score affects only the final decision of the bank — to approve or reject the application. The maximum loan amount is calculated based on the client's income. It also takes into account current loan obligations, rental expenses and alimony (if any).

"Before applying for a mortgage, we recommend either closing credit cards or lowering the limits as much as possible. This may influence the bank's decision and increase the chances of receiving a higher amount," he commented.

As for the lack of a credit history, this, according to Ovechkin, is not a reason to refuse — "in this case, the bank will rely on other factors when making a final decision, namely: the amount of income, length of service at the current location, the amount of the initial payment, and others." Having no credit history is normal, it's much more difficult to get approved with a bad credit history.

On July 31, the Russian government approved a bill on granting a mortgage grace period for families with children. It will be considered at the autumn session of the State Duma.

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