Credit file

Micrah

my husband and I are looking to buy our house, we have been told we can't get a joint mortgage as he has one default on his credit file which we are paying back and now owe £600 on it. We told the financial advisor we seen that we would clear the debt today but he said it would still stop us from getting a joint mortgage for four years, I'd there anything else we can do to help solve this?

nicp60

It depends on other circumstances too, although essentially that default will count against you for 6 years. You'll find it very difficult to get a mortgage with the default on the file, and pretty much impossible if you've not even finished paying it off yet.

You should make sure you've got as high a deposit as possible - some lenders will look at you for a mortgage with a default that's over 3 years old with a 20%+ deposit.

How much are you looking to borrow and how much deposit do you have?

Tixy

The default will stay on file for 6 years from the date of default.
Over time it will have a lesser impact, so once its over maybe 4 - 5 years old it will have less of an impact on his ability to get credit.

There are some subprime mortgage lenders who will consider lending to people with settled defaults, those these will not be at the best rates on the market and generally require a higher deposit.