FTB mortgage advice

Butterfly134 · 2025-11-20T15:16:06+00:00

We’re hoping to apply for a mortgage in the next 6 month and I’m trying to get a realistic idea of our chances before speaking to a broker. My partner has a low credit score due to three missed payments last year. These were technically in his name but relate to something he wasn’t actually responsible for (long story and we’re looking into challenging it). Apart from that his history is fine. My credit score isn’t bad but it’s low because I’ve basically had no credit until recently (no loans, no credit cards, etc). I’ve now taken out a credit card to build a history and everything is up to date. We have a rough joint income of 90k Has anyone been in a similar situation? How likely would we be to get a mortgage. Thank you!

Toodaloos · 20/11/2025 15:23

Definitely use a broker and be honest with your history. It might be that they go for certain mortgages that will accept those with a lower credit score. These traditionally may be more expensive but they will get the best deal they can for you. Ensure it is a whole of market broker too.

In the meantime, look to improve scores where you can - register for all three credit agencies (credit karma etc) and look at your reports. Address anything you are able to. Credit score building takes time but it does improve if you put the effort in.

thankgoditssaturday · 20/11/2025 15:45

London and country are good as brokers

Tootsiroll · 20/11/2025 18:19

Agreed about using a mortgage broker, we used L&C and they were great.

We didn't have poor credit in as much as we didn't have much of any credit history. We're both debit card and save until you can afford it type of people and I was worried the lack of credit history would be an issue but our broker came back with several options. He even called back the next day saying he'd found a mortgage with identical terms to the one he found previously only this one had a £500 cash back after the first month.

Original poster

Butterfly134 · 20/11/2025 20:19

@Toodaloos@Tootsiroll@thankgoditssaturdayThank you so much for your responses. I’m feeling more reassured. We definitely will be very honest with our mortgage broker and hopefully this will mean that we are able to get a good Mortgage sorted. Would anyone know whether we would be eligible for a 5% mortgage or would that be very far fetched considering the above

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Toodaloos · 20/11/2025 20:43

Butterfly134 · 20/11/2025 20:19

@Toodaloos@Tootsiroll@thankgoditssaturdayThank you so much for your responses. I’m feeling more reassured. We definitely will be very honest with our mortgage broker and hopefully this will mean that we are able to get a good Mortgage sorted. Would anyone know whether we would be eligible for a 5% mortgage or would that be very far fetched considering the above

The rate/products you’ll get offered will be dependent on a number of factors. Like you know, mortgages aimed at people with lower credit scores will be more expensive. Other factors that affect the rate offered will be how much deposit you’ve got. If you have a 10% deposit, you’ll be looking at a 90%ltv mortgage. These are generally a higher rate/ more expensive than where you had a better ltv (e.g 40% deposit and 60% ltv mortgage). Another factor will be what sort of mortgage you take. I’ve always had a fixed rate mortgage. 2 year fixed rates are currently lower than 5 years but keep an eye on it - a few years ago, it was the other way round where 5 year fixed were a lower rate than the 2 year ones.

It takes a few weeks to get a mortgage sorted and it’s always good to have an AIP (agreement in principle) when you’re looking/putting in offers. Puts you in a stronger/more proceedable position for vendors. I’d suggest you start some of the groundwork now - a broker can do simple sums too to let you know what your affordable budget was too. You can look at online calculators but these are guides only, a broker can tailor it more given your joint history and give you an idea of what you’d be offered.

Toodaloos · 20/11/2025 20:47

BTW, a quick ChatGPT query tells me it is possible to get a 4.99% 2 year fixed mortgage if you have poor (or no) credit history. Obviously take that with a pinch of salt but what it did say was to find a specialist broker to give you the best chances.

Original poster

Butterfly134 · 21/11/2025 10:12

Toodaloos · 20/11/2025 20:43

The rate/products you’ll get offered will be dependent on a number of factors. Like you know, mortgages aimed at people with lower credit scores will be more expensive. Other factors that affect the rate offered will be how much deposit you’ve got. If you have a 10% deposit, you’ll be looking at a 90%ltv mortgage. These are generally a higher rate/ more expensive than where you had a better ltv (e.g 40% deposit and 60% ltv mortgage). Another factor will be what sort of mortgage you take. I’ve always had a fixed rate mortgage. 2 year fixed rates are currently lower than 5 years but keep an eye on it - a few years ago, it was the other way round where 5 year fixed were a lower rate than the 2 year ones.

It takes a few weeks to get a mortgage sorted and it’s always good to have an AIP (agreement in principle) when you’re looking/putting in offers. Puts you in a stronger/more proceedable position for vendors. I’d suggest you start some of the groundwork now - a broker can do simple sums too to let you know what your affordable budget was too. You can look at online calculators but these are guides only, a broker can tailor it more given your joint history and give you an idea of what you’d be offered.

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Thank you so much for your advice. We have an appointment with the mortgage broker today as we’re not sure how long the whole process is going to take. We’re keen to start looking however, didn’t want to get our hopes up until we had an AIP. The market seems very quiet at the moment and not sure if that will work to our advantage. Thank you again. Hoping to feel
more positive after our conversation with the mortgage broker

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