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Mortgages with adverse credit

A mark on your file isn't the end of it.

Defaults, missed payments, a CCJ, an old payday loan. It feels like a permanent black mark. It usually isn't. There are lenders who deal with this every day and price it accordingly.

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What lenders actually care about

Not your credit score. Lenders don't see the number you see on Experian or ClearScore; they run their own assessment. What they look at is:

  • What kind of mark it is. A missed mobile phone payment and a repossession are not in the same category.
  • How old it is. Most adverse gets easier as it ages. Some lenders stop counting things after three years, some after two, some sooner.
  • Whether it's settled. A satisfied default is treated very differently from an outstanding one.
  • What's happened since. A clean two years after a rough patch tells a real story.
  • Your deposit. More deposit opens more doors when there's adverse on file.

The first thing to do

Get a copy of your full credit report before you apply for anything. Not a score, the actual report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. We'll need to see it anyway, and it's common to find things on there that are wrong, out of date, or already resolved.

Applying blind and getting declined leaves a hard search on your file and makes the next lender more cautious. It's worth getting it right the first time.

You won't be made to feel stupid for asking.

Worth saying, because we've been on the other side of that desk. Being turned down for a mortgage has a way of making you feel like you shouldn't have bothered. You should have. Ask the question.

Tom Williams at work at the Make Mortgages Easy office
Yes and here's who. Not yet and here's what to fix first. Or yes, but it'll cost more than a clean file would, and here's exactly how much.
The three honest answers
The hallway of a client's new home on completion day

All three of those are useful

Only one of them is what you want to hear. But a straight answer early is worth more than an optimistic one that wastes three months and leaves another hard search on your file.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.

Not sure where you stand?

A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Tell us what's going on and we'll tell you honestly what your options look like, including if the answer is "not yet".

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.

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