Lenders have seen your scenario before. You'll be surprised how they will help!

You have a default?  A CCJ?  Missed a payment or two here and there?  Yes, the high street lenders will probably say they can’t help, but there’s plenty of others who will.

These days, competition is very strong across the mortgage market and this includes helping those who have had a credit blip or two in the past.  Some lenders may even go right up to 95% of the property value for the right customer.  And, this might be surprising, but rates start in the mid 2%s range on some products.

Don’t despair, there are lenders out there who, subject to terms and conditions, will probably look at your scenario and have seen it all before.

To make the process as smooth as possible, make sure you have all details to hand at the outset.  When was the default / CCJ, is it satisfied, why did it occur, etc?  Disclose absolutely everything upfront.

With all new mortgages, a budget planner will be required.  Make sure you know and can advise exactly how much you are spending on your lifestyle.  Especially make sure you know your monthly costs on food, household expenses, travel, pension and saving contributions and other likely costs such as hobbies, going to the gym, lottery direct debits and more.  Every lender will review your ability to afford your new mortgage both now, and over coming years, so all direct debits and most entries on your bank statements or credit report will need to be advised.  This is so the lender can make a viable stress test on future rate rises and ensure that you will still be able to afford your mortgage at that time.

Finally, despite some of these amazing products being available and lenders looking to attract new business, we are seeing general processing delays across the market.  Some lenders are not taking appointments for two to three weeks, some are up to ten working days behind on processing, and we have experienced recent telephone calls taking over an hour to receive any kind of response!  These are just on the broker side so heaven knows how customers are faring!  With some complex deals, these are not available directly, so speak to your local (and long established) independent and whole of market brokerage and let them take the stress away from you.