We’ve helped over 10,000 people find their bad credit mortgage. We’re good at it! Enquire for FREE, no-obligation advice & quotes. No initial credit check.
We work with high street and other lenders so you’ll get access to some of the best deals that you may be able to apply for.
A bad credit mortgage is a mortgage for people with a poor credit score, a low credit rating, or adverse credit in their history. There are specialist lenders who will provide loans to bad credit applicants, although the interest rates and monthly payments will likely be higher than for customers with better credit scores.
If you have a good income or a substantial deposit, it might be possible to find a competitive mortgage.
Whether you’re looking for Mortgage Advice, Loan Advice or Insurance Advice or any other financial product or service, we can help you…
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Buying a financial product such as a mortgage can be the biggest decision made in our lives. It is for this reason that impartial advice is critical from qualified advisors.
From the information you provide to us, our experts will search the market and find the most suitable products for you – even if you have bad credit! If you are happy with the product on offer, we will handle all the necessary paperwork for you, including any relevant applications, to ensure that everything runs smoothly for you.
From just a few minutes completing some basic information, we will quickly search for suitable financial products for you.
We’ve helped thousands of customers secure financial products and services so you know that you are in capable hands.
Choosing the right financial product is time consuming and can be stressful, so remove much of this by putting it in the hands of one of our experts.
Whatever type of financial product or service you are looking for, our service is reliable and always matched to your own personal circumstances.
A credit score gives lenders, such as banks and mortgage providers, an idea of how someone manages their money by showing what money they owe, how quickly they pay back debts, and how consistent their payments are. All these factors go into creating a credit score – the lower the score, the more likely lenders will see them as a risk and refuse loans and mortgages.
A person’s credit scores may look low if:
It is important to know that nothing stays on a credit report forever, that’s why we believe bad credit shouldn’t stop people from applying for a mortgage. Some lenders don’t even look at credit scores when considering applications – we can offer advice on the best lenders for your specific circumstances and needs.
Choosing a financial product or service, such as a mortgage, remortgage, loan or insurance can be daunting and your choice is a decision you need to get right. For this reason, it is vital that you get impartial advice from competent and qualified advisors. Whether you are a first-time buyer, looking to remortgage, or even buy a property to let, needing a loan or insurance – this is where our advisers excel.
Be reassured that our aim is to guarantee reliable financial advice appropriate to any individual that makes contact with us. Through our network of contacts, we have access to thousands of financial products, from mortgages to loans to insurance, so we are confident that we’ll find one to suit you.
As a mortgage is secured against your home, it may be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments.
If you have a bad credit history, there are multiple steps you can take to increase your chances of being approved for a mortgage.
It will be more beneficial to postpone buying a property until you are in a better financial position. During this time, you can rebuild your credit score by making repayments for bills and credit cards on time and allow you to save up more money for a deposit. Even though this could take some time, it will give you access to better mortgage rates and save you money in the long term.
There are a lot of services out there like Experian that allow you to view your credit report and see when you have had missed payments or CCJs. You can also see your credit score through these services, although this will just give you an overall idea of your creditworthiness. Each mortgage provider will score you differently against their own eligibility criteria.
Once you have identified your credit problems, you can work on repairing them. Any incident from a single missed payment to bankruptcy can impact your ability to get a mortgage. You should start improving your credit score long before making a mortgage application by repaying all bills and credit on time.
Mortgages with low deposits often have stricter acceptance criteria. The higher the deposit you can provide, the better chance you will have of finding a mortgage that you are eligible for. Lenders will likely request a higher deposit if you have bad credit, for example a 20-30% deposit rather than 5-10%.
Expert mortgage advisers, like our team at Finance Advice Centre, can help you find the right products to suit your circumstances and help you with your application. This will give you a better chance of finding a mortgage that you are more likely to be accepted for with past bad credit issues.
The most severe types of adverse credit you can have on your file are repossessions and bankruptcies which a lot of lenders will take note of. However, smaller issues like missed phone bill payments are problems some lenders could be willing to overlook. Specialist lenders often take a more flexible approach than high street banks and building societies and can offer a lifeline to applicants with:
These lenders typically base their decision to lend on the cause and severity of the adverse credit, the age of the issue, and how closely you meet their other eligibility and affordability criteria. For instance, if you are looking to get a mortgage with a CCJ, it is more likely to be approved than a mortgage for an applicant with multiple credit issues.
For someone who has a low, bad, or poor credit score a poor credit mortgage is still available. Mortgages are not split into a good mortgage and bad mortgage, so the term “bad credit mortgage” is only descriptive of the loans someone with bad credit is more likely to be approved for. Poor credit history should not stop you from getting a mortgage. Often, these mortgages come with higher interest rates or more restrictions on the person borrowing the money. There could be age requirements or the lender might require a co-signatory on the loan. They might also require a larger deposit if applications are for poor credit home loans.
Many people have a CCJ on their credit file. This is more common than most people think, and we work with lenders that can consider all types of scenarios. Even recent CCJs are considered and in some cases, the lender will overlook them if they believe the person will be able to make their payments on a new loan. As Finance Advice Centre has access to “the whole of the market”, we are able to work with these lenders to get the best deals for people with CCJs.
Defaults on your credit file are the most common adverse credit we see. We have helped many clients and work with lenders who will consider all types of circumstances including recent defaults. Not all defaults are the same and lenders will look differently on mail-order accounts to the way they view defaulting on a previous mortgage. A default will stay on your credit history for 6 years, but the further you are away from it, the higher your chances of getting a good mortgage rate and deal.
We work with lenders that have a flexible approach to missed payments; the dates and amount of missed payments would be key to the options available to you. Some lenders manually underwrite your application so may not fit on the high street, but it may pass with some specialist lenders. The biggest factors lenders look at are what the loan was for, how much the payment was, and how long it took to repay the debt.
If you are currently in an IVA your options may be limited and it would need to be settled as part of the application. You’ll also need to provide a good-sized deposit. When you have satisfied the IVA and the discharge date becomes older, there are more lenders that would consider your application. If your IVA was settled within the last 4 years then you will probably need a deposit over 15%, but if it was settled more than 4 years ago you might be able to get a mortgage with a deposit as low as 5%.
We deal with lenders that would consider lending to clients that are currently in a debt management arrangement as well as clients that have payment plans set up with creditors. In some cases, the arrangement does not have to be cleared as part of the application. Most lenders will want to look at your income, loan-to-value, affordability, and credit score before making a decision.
Bankruptcy is an area we have helped many people in due to the lender products we have available. We work with lenders that would consider a bad credit mortgage application from the first day you are discharged. As the bankruptcy discharge date gets older, there are more options available. Be prepared to offer a deposit anywhere between 20-40% of the value of the property.
A mortgage after a previous repossession is possible. The date of the repossession and whether there is any debt outstanding will be key to the options available. If your repossession was less than a year ago you are unlikely to be eligible for any mortgage, but thereafter it is a possibility providing you have a specialised lender and are able to put up around a 35% deposit.
The minimum deposit required for a residential property in the UK is 5% (or 15% for a buy-to-let), but if you have bad credit, some lenders will only offer you a mortgage loan if you put down more deposit, depending on the age of the issue and how serious it was. For example, if you have a repossession on your file, you might be able to get a mortgage from a specialist lender within 1-3 years if you put down a 25% deposit.
For people with an IVA (individual voluntary arrangement) a deposit of between 10-25% may be needed, depending on how long is left to run on the debt, and those with a bankruptcy may require between 15% and 25% in the first three years.
A 100% mortgage does not require a deposit as the lender pays the total value of your home. These types of mortgages are not overly common, but there are some niche providers on the market offering them. As you don’t need to put down a deposit, most lenders will require a guarantor. When it comes to a 100% mortgage with bad credit, it is quite rare you will be approved but not completely impossible – if you have a guarantor you are more likely to be approved, though there is a lot of risk involved for the guarantor.
At Finance Advice Centre, we have access to “the whole of the market”, meaning we can access all lenders including high street banks, “challenger banks”, and building societies. We can find the best deal from a country-wide selection of lenders. Not only do we have access to all these lenders, we also have the knowledge to advise you on which mortgage is best suited to your situation.
You can get advice and assistance from us in three easy steps:
We love speaking with our clients. Either give us a call or fill in one of our contact forms. Remember, we love a challenge!
One of our advisors will then find out what you’re looking to do, discuss your options and answer any questions you may have.
Your advisor will find the best option for you and help arrange things. You then sit back and relax while we do the rest.
Although the majority of High Street lenders want you to have a perfect credit history, it’s refreshing to know that there are more and more lenders coming back into the market who will provide suitable mortgages again. Interest rates are unlikely to be as good as standard mortgages; specialist lenders in the mortgage market will usually charge higher interest rates. This is sometimes described as a ‘subprime mortgage’, ‘adverse credit mortgage’ or ‘non-conforming mortgage’. The good news is, in many cases, it can be done.
While the lenders clearly want to keep some degree of separation between their standard and bad credit divisions, the deals they are offering are less restrictive than they have been in the past. Most lenders will often cut mortgage rates if borrowers keep up a good payment record and after two or three years, it may be possible to switch to a standard rate mortgage.
The lender will usually set the interest rate based on how much risk they think you pose to them. Our commitment to you is that no matter what your credit history looks like, we will never leave you wondering. We will always let you know whether or not you can get a bad credit mortgage and when.
As a mortgage is secured against your property, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments.
I would highly recommend the mortgage advice service. Alice Hale was amazing throughout – she is a credit to your organisation and helped us secure our dream home.
Emma Griffiths
We had a long journey buying our first home together and recent pandemic events didn’t help matters. Every step of the way, our advisor Steve was supportive and positive. He arranged a good deal and we moved into our dream house this autumn.
Emma Weaver
I used George from the Finance Advice Centre to get my mortgage, and he was nothing but amazing! Talked me through every step, always easy to get hold of, and got me a brilliant product. Highly recommend – 5 stars from me.
Joanne Widdowson
What a fantastic service from start to finish. Great customer support from Ben Patten & Joe Frayne, superb product knowledge and exceptionally responsive to emails/calls. We can 100% recommend the Finance Advice Centre.
Ian Stamp
From start to finish, Greig and Emily were very helpful with our mortgage application. The advice was clear and informed, and they were always available by phone or email. The whole process was made a lot easier. Would thoroughly recommend.
Ross Nightingale
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