Getting a mortgage when husband has bad credit- success stories please!

[NLW91]

So we are in talks with a broker to get a mortgage. We are First time buyers and expecting our first baby in August. We want to make the most of the frozen stamp duty so thought we would get the ball rolling. My husband doesn’t have a squeaky clean credit report whereas I have. He has some defaults from nearly 2 years ago, from credit cards/mobile phones but nothing else. The broker checked his report and based on our combined income reckons we could afford a £200k property if we could provide a 20% deposit which would make our application more desirable. A family member has generously gifted that 20% deposit to us. We are sending all our documents to the broker today so he can start getting some AIP in place. What I’m after is just some success stories really. I know my partners credit could be a lot worse. But it would be good to hear from others how they managed to obtain a mortgage with poor credit history. Many thanks!

Did he pay the default off? If so it’s just a paperwork issue and they should be able to approve it in underwriting. If he hasn’t it might be a good idea to pay off now and keep documentary evidence (settled and closed statements) for the mortgage.

We had all kinds of issues with our mortgage, including a CCJ on my husbands file that was actually not for him, it was for a man in the same town with the same name! I had a couple of late payments of credit cards in the previous 2yrs but our Broker was a magician and got it all sorted (including getting rid of the CCJ) so it definitely can happen. For what it’s worth we were borrowing a lot more with less of a deposit too (in London) so you’re in a better position than us in that respect. Fingers crossed for you!

@GrumpyHoonMain

Did he pay the default off? If so it’s just a paperwork issue and they should be able to approve it in underwriting. If he hasn’t it might be a good idea to pay off now and keep documentary evidence (settled and closed statements) for the mortgage.

The defaults aren’t paid off, we asked the broker and he said it wouldn’t make any difference anyway as they still remain on your file for 6 years.

Try Virgin Money (Clydesdale Bank) they use manual underwriting and affordability is the main factor. I had a messy credit history but I was able to explain it and mortgage advisor put it down on my file and when it went to the in house underwriting team they approved it no bother. We had a 10% deposit - this was last year. Mortgage was approved and we have been in our house for almost a year. Good luck

If you're first time buyers you don't have to pay stamp duty anyway (just in case you feel you have to rush) Sorry can't help with what you actually asked for, but you have a great deposit so fingers crossed.

My DP and I bought a new build that was completed a few months ago. I have bad credit history (mostly from 2 years ago). I had to explain why it happened as they asked me.

My DP has squeeky clean credit history. All was fine and we got the mortgage, although our interest is on the higher end. It's fixed for 2 years and then we can change it.

Hope all goes well for you

My DP and I bought a new build that was completed a few months ago. I have bad credit history (mostly from 2 years ago). I had to explain why it happened as they asked me.

My DP has squeeky clean credit history. All was fine and we got the mortgage, although our interest is on the higher end. It's fixed for 2 years and then we can change it.

Hope all goes well for you

As long as you don't have a CCJ, mortgage companies are pretty easy going and a broker will know which one is right for you.

When we purchased our home, DH had 30k on credit cards and I had appalling credit history, but we still got a mortgage 4x our salary with a 10% deposit

You don't have to pay stamp duty anyway been first time buyers, so even if you had to wait until after the holiday ends you will still pay no stamp duty.

We thought the same about a default - that it wouldn’t matter whether we paid the debt or not as it still stays on the record for 6 years, but our mortgage broker told us that no bank would lend to us unless evidence that default was repaid, so we had to settle it, then wait until credit file showed it as settled before they’d allow us to progress.

Livelovebehappy - the problem is going to be that the defaults aren’t recorded as “settled” on his credit file. That basically tells lenders that he’s borrowed money and can’t or won’t repay it. A settled default is looked upon more favourably, although can still be prohibitive with some lenders and in accessing the best interest deals.

If you have a broker their job is to put you forward to all the lenders they know who accept bad credit, and if your broker has completed your application they obviously believe there are lenders out there who potential will, so fingers crossed. But I’d be anticipating a high interest rate, unfortunately.