jailittlerivs: Hubby has one CCJ which comes off his credit file June 2013 and I have 1 default (£600) which comes off in 2013 too. We don't have any other debts. I have a credit card but its zero balance. I also have a car on finance but can pay this off early if I need to.
I think that this is going to come down to a matter of deposit.
While lenders have tightened up their criteria quite significantly in the last few years it does not mean that they will not accept the odd blip here and there and the longer in the past the blip - the more inclined they will be to consider it.
What will help them ignore these blips is the amount of risk that thelender has to take on the with the application. If the lender is lending 80% or more of the the property value (20% or less deposit) then they are taking on quite a significant risk and they will almost certainly accept little adverse credit if any at all. The reason for this is that if you decide to stop paying the mortgage the lender would probably struggle to get back their money (plus costs) if they had to repossess and resell the the property. If you are borrowing below at 75% of the property value (25%+ deposit) then the lender often will consider this to be a far less riskier proposition and they will to consider a few blips including CCJ's and Defaults. What will help them even more is if the problems that you have had are far in the past as this means that any history since should (hopefully) show a good conduct of financial accounts which will ease the lenders worries.
With what you have listed on your post I would suggest that if you should speak to a mortgage broker. They will be best able to place you with a lender that may just turn a blind eye to your previous blips. I even feel that because your problems are nearly 5 years old that the lenders may even ignore them with a low deposit. Again, a broker would be ebst able to decide who would offer the best chance of acceptance through the information you give to him.
I cannot say that you will get definitely get accepted but I do feel that with the age of the adverse credit you will have a chance at a mortgage, even with a low deposit.
I would advise AGAINST going directly to a bank or building society in this instance as they will all automatically put you through their credit checks and each time you do this you register a credit application and too many credit applications (pass or fail) will reduce your score very quickly. A broker on the other hand can best assess which bank or BS you will fit with through knowledge and experience of their lending criteria and then put you through that lenders specific credit check.
Worst case scenario, the broker tries a couple of places and they say no. At least you know that you will have to wait longer till the adverse drops off or you need a higher deposit. Best case scenario - you find yourself with the biggest debt that you have ever had in your life......somehow that just doesn't seem right!
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
