Will I ever be able to repair my credit enough to get a mortgage?

nottsgirl

I have very poor credit from getting into debt with catalogue and bank years ago that spiralled out of control until I was no longer able to even make minimum payments. I am now much more careful with money and pay all of my bills ontime. I only have a basic bank account as have not been accepted for a current one.

I am approaching 30 and now and am seriously worried about the future. I want to be able to get a mortgage one day but the clock is ticking and my credit rating is very low. I managed to get a studio catalogue last November which i've been paying off regularly, started at £125 credit limit and now at £740.

I have checked my credit report online and it starts with lots of greens that are satisfied both now and over past few years, but at the bottom there are about 7 defaulst from 2009. Am I right in thinking these will be wiped off after 6 years (so around 2015) and if so, if I keep being very careful with my credit will I ever be able to repair it enough to get a mortgage one day in the future or have I messed my chances up completely?

Lessbutbetter

You shouldn't worry too much about this. You simply have to understand like i have that you made a mistake and that you now have to pay for it by not being offered mainstream credit or a mortgage until after 6 years of it being recorded. I have a CCJ from 2010 and so i'm in the same boat. My credit profile has green ticks across the board from 5 accounts for the past 5 years, however the CCJ has the most negative impact on the good i have done by simply being there.

Like i said before, having a mortgage isn't the most important thing in life, and if you keep a clean nose for the next 4 or so years then you'll probably be able to apply for one when your defaults come off.

Good luck

lisyloo

but the clock is ticking

There is nothing to stop you saving whilst you cannot buy a house.
House prices are going nowhere currently so you will probably not be in a much different position.
If house prices were booming it would be a different, but they aren't so simply put the money into savings that you would have otherwise put into property and you won't be any worse off.
In the meantime get the cheapest accomodation you can find if getting a house is a serious goal.

will I ever be able to repair it enough to get a mortgage one day in the future

Yes you will, but you will have to wait which is your punishment.
I'm not moralising there BTW just stating the fact.

In the meantime I would
1) Research house price trends.
2) Research the are you want to buy thoroughly.
3) Keep detailed financial records of all your outgoings so you know what you spend on food, transport etc.
4) Prepare a budget for your spending - things like council tax, gas, home ins willl be higher - ask friends.
5) Prepare a budget for moving e.g. mortgage fees, legal fees, removals, curtains, carpets etc.
6) Save what you can - this depends on how strong your goal is. If it's really strong then you need to live like a hermit. Most people don't do that but just saying it's up to you.

So in the meantime you can do some useful things.

I keep detailed financial records, not because I need to, but because it helps me when I need to make any financial decisions.
Sometimes my husband and I have differnt perceptions and it helps to be able to look at the facts i.e. the numbers.

[Deleted User]

There is the 6 year rule but time does fly by - I had a LOVELY clean credit rating AFTER some old ones were taken off , they were all paid but still showed for the 6 yrs because I was late / defaulted

THEN I got into real problems with my bank as silly things like going LITERALLY 25p overdrawn they charged me £10 PER DAY FOR till I got back into credit , so charged me eg £50 of bank charges OUT OF MY BENEFIT for the month at the time so I couldn't afford to live ON WHAT WAS LEFT SO IT ENDED UP A CATCH 22 SITUATION & OF COURSE THE BANK DIDN'T CARE and continued slapping the charges on and it got really bad so I had to leave them in the end!!!

( I RANG them after I went overdrawn by 25p as I didn't realise and they said there is nothing they can do about the charges , they didn't give a hoot about being on benefit , they just said I just have to be better with my maths / calculations ''even though it EASILY happens'' they wouldn't budge and that 25p of being overdrawn the one time ended up causing the whole VICIOUS CYCLE!! ) :-(

Then I got a mobile phone on contract ( somehow ) and made sure I paid faultlessly every month so now the contract is finished I actually applied to T-Mobile for a contract phone ( I OWED them money from the past! lol ) and thought I had NO chance but the phone is coming TODAY which I put down to them checking my previous mobile payments with 3 and seeing I paid without fault

So maybe get it looking as good as possible in the meantime???