Mortgage application.

[Totalmeltdown]

Bit of a story. I am nearly 50 and my oh is 50 now. We have some credit card debt which we are paying off. We sold our house 4 years ago before we were not going to be able to pay the mortgage as we didn't want help/assistance and moved into rented accommodation, in the belief that in 12 months we would be able to sort ourselves out and buy another property then. Due to some misfortunes along the way, like having to visit sick/elderly relatives frequently at the other end of the country (costing heaps of money we didn't and still don't begrudge ) and some other issues like a friggin enormous electricity/gas bill our savings have dwindled a bit but finally hopefully we will be in a position to buy towards the end of this year or the beginning of next.
We would love to be able to make use of the help to buy scheme as we now won't be able to afford a 25% deposit. Does anyone know if a slightly less than great credit rating and some credit card debt will preclude us from using this ? I really don't want to start the mortgage application process only to be refused as I know applications go on your rating which would then count against us. I think our rating is ok as we have never defaulted on anything but i was refused a loan at the time we were trying to save our house, and once , instead of making an extra payment to a cc we did that instead of the minimum payment and got a letter from the cc people. We sorted that out straight away though. I also understand the application process is different now which might also be a problem. My oh is a lovely man but he just assumes everything will be all right and I can't stop worrying about the future without a home of our own. If things stay as they are with our pension we should be ok on retirement with a good sized lump sum which should allow us to buy then at least but there are rumours that this type of lump sum will attract income tax soon and that will now be the final nail in the coffin of the totalmeltdowns I feel.
Does anyone have any advice ?
Thanks for reading, I appreciate this is very long.

I think you should speak to a mortgage broker.

It's also worth checking your credit rating with Experian. You can usually sign up for a free month trial

Thanks , we probably will. I have been putting off checking my score as although we have had no problems with phone contracts etc and renting so I know it's not bad, I am afraid it won't be good enough and that will depress me.

You really can turn it around in a surprisingly short time. I increased mine from 600-over 900 in about 3 months

If you don't mind me asking Armani, what did you do to turn it around so quickly ? You have given me some hope ! Thank you

I'd speak to a mortgage broker too. I thought there was no way in hell we'd get a mortgage as I had poor rating on one and average on another credit thing. Went through a fantastic broker who got me a mortgage with a 13% deposit. I only paid him once the sale completed and would have been free if I didn't get one. Plus because they know the ins and outs they can tell you whether it's even worth applying.

Ring London and County, they'll take all your details (income, debts, issues on your credit history) and give you a good idea over the phone of what you'll be able to borrow, it won't leave a footprint on your credit file to just find out what sort of mortgage you could get, it was only once we found a house and said we wanted to proceed that anything is left on your credit file.

Everything is dealt with over the phone and it's no olbligation (and no fee if you do proceed via them, they get paid by the mortgage lender not you). They haven't always been the quickest at dealing with things once we actually made a formal application, but as at this stage you just want an idea of what you could borrow that doesn't matter.

And I second getting a copy of your credit file from someone like experian or equifax, only costs £2 to get a copy of your statutory file and it'll give you an idea what things are likely to come up when a lender does a searcha against you (it might not be as bad as you think).

Oh moreis. That is so reassuring thank you :)

Thank you titchy, I am now feeling a bit better. Will look into London and county, are these advisors or brokers ?