Mortgage and hope after Bankruptcy....

janineh1982

Hi all,

Just wanted a quick post to say there is life and hope after bankruptcy! (Although I didn't think so a few years ago!)

I (alone) was declared bankrupt in March 2007 and my Husband and I have recently been offered a mortgage for £400k (15% deposit) by the Nottingham Building Society.

Everything from my darker days has dropped off my credit file except one default from May 2008 with N3xt (settled, amount defaulted £221)

My husband also has one default from Dec 2007 (due to drop of at the end of this month, account settled, default amount £151)

I spent a long (long long long) time researching (and subsequently chasing creditors to update with correct info) to ensure I had a credit file as clean as could be and ringing round the building society's (generally called 2-3 times to check I received consistent information) and narrowed it down to 4 lenders who I thought would lend to us based on my bankruptcy and current defaults on credit file.

These were:-

Nottingham BS (mortgage in principle offered)

Coventry BS - seemed to fit all their criteria, except they require 6 years discharge (this would be Jan 2014 for me)

Yorkshire BS - seem to fit all criteria re Bankruptcy but a little dubious re defaulted accounts and if this would be a show stopper.
We applied to Yorshire BS in 2012 and we're unfortunately declined so I think this put me off a little also.

Mansfield BS - again seem to fit all the criteria, however they cap the lending at £300k for a 15% dep so didn't suit us.

My advice to any ex bankruptee would be to really spend the time and energy researching how to clean your credit file, ring around again and again (and again) lenders who look promising to triple check the info they give you.
Be open and honest about your circumstances.
Also my experience thus far is that you will need a minimum of 15% deposit. Even prime lenders want 20-25% generally.


Hopefully the above may provide a gimmer of hope to those in a similar situation I was in a few years ago!!

Thanks
J

National_Debtline

Hello there,

This is a great post. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

We often speak to clients who are considering the bankruptcy route. They are often concerned that they'll never be able to get on the property ladder again. This is really useful information as it shows that there are lenders out there that will allow people to start over again.

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.