Getting a mortgage was a whole different ball game 25 years ago. In order to prove your reliability you often had to have a savings account with your local building society for a few years before they'd even consider you for a mortgage. It certainly helped if you were a married couple and deemed to be 'stable' members of society. If you were a single woman, your chances of securing finance were remote and people with a history of bad credit were too great a risk for the mainstream lenders, as they confined themselves to lending to people with solid jobs and perfect credit histories.

How things change, today people with adverse credit history can get a mortgage. In the past decade a huge industry sprung up to meet the mortgage needs of sub prime or non standard borrowers, that is people who have a poor credit rating, low credit score and those who don't fit conventional lending criteria such as the self employed and people employed on short term contracts.

Adverse credit mortgages and remortgages are available to people who have a chequered financial history, from those who have simply missed payment on a utility bill to people with County Court Judgements (CCJs) or even bankruptcy against their name. 

The attitude of lenders towards people with a bad credit rating changed because they realised these individuals were not necessarily going to default on their mortgage repayments. Quite often the causes of a poor credit record can be attributed to unfortunate events such as redundancy, illness or divorce which occur through no real fault of those involved.

Many high street lenders have embraced the credit impaired market and developed a dedicated sub-prime lending arm of their business. For instance UCB Home Loans is owned by Nationwide, and Platform, owned by Britannia Building Society.  You may not have heard of some of the lenders as their products are only accessible through mortgage brokers. GMAC-RFC, for example, is part of the General Motors group.

Whatever financial problems you may have had in the past, chances are there will be a number of lenders that are happy to help you. With the increased level of competition in this sector, it could be cheaper than you think. Rates can be competitive even compared to conventional loans, and the restrictions placed on taking out such mortgages are far less punitive.

A specialist mortgage broker with access to the entire range of lenders in the UK, will locate the best deal for you. Simply complete our no obligation enquiry form.