Deciding to buy a home is an exciting but nerve-racking step to take and one of the most apprehensive parts of the process is getting accepted for a mortgage.

Banks and building societies have tightened up their lending criteria considerably since the credit crunch hit, making them far less flexible when it comes to handing out loans.

But the good news is mortgage lending is on the way up again, with figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showing that total gross mortgage lending in May was 17% higher than a year earlier at £14.7billion.

Mortgage deals are getting cheaper too. Thanks to the Funding for Lending Scheme, which was introduced last year and offers cheap funding to lenders on the proviso they pass it on to borrowers, mortgage rates have tumbled - and not only for those with the fattest deposits.

Up until recently, the very best mortgage rates were only available to those with a deposit of at least 40%. But over the past few weeks, increasingly competitive deals have been launched onto the market requiring a slightly smaller deposit of 35%.

Before you apply for a mortgage, it's a good idea to obtain a copy of your credit report through one of the credit reference agencies which you can compare through our credit monitoring channel. By doing this, you'll be able to see whether your credit rating is up to scratch.