Joint Mortgage: Good credit plus bad credit

MsDemeanour

Hi all, any thoughts on my problem would be much appreciated...

My partner and I want to move in together, but rather than rent we would like to make our first step onto the property ladder.

He has an excellent credit history; mine however is rubbish, having defaulted on loans, credit cards etc in the past, resulting in 3 CCJs. Things are being paid off slowly but I'm still a few thousand in debt.

He wouldn't be able to borrow much on his own - and I earn more than him - so a joint mortgage would make more sense, or we would be buying a shoebox in which I have no legal share.

So what is the situation when one of you has a good credit rating and the other doesn't? Would we automatically be considered as sub prime borrowers? I really don't want him to be paying higher interest because of mistakes I made before we had even met!

herbiesjp

If you apply together, you will make a financial association between yourselves.

So your bad credit history will affect you both when applying. NOwto what extent it effacts you, will depend on the amounts involved, and how old all the adverse history is.

Assuming the income is enough to support the mortgage you are looking for, you will be able to find a mortgage, but the rate offered may not be a high street deal. So I would suggest looking carefully at the figures before putting any offers on properties to make sure that it is affordable to you, and maybe even get an agreement in principle to make sure thae lender/deal chosen will be happy to agree the mortgage for you.