Mortgages after credit problems

A decline is one lender’s answer

Banks apply fixed credit criteria, and a file that falls outside them is declined without much discussion. Alternative and private lenders weigh the whole picture — equity in the property, stability of income, what caused the damage and when, and what has happened since.

What we can tell you honestly is which lenders will look at a file like yours, what it will cost, and what would have to change for the answer to improve. Approval is always the lender’s decision, never ours, and anyone telling you otherwise is telling you something they cannot deliver.

Price reflects risk, and so does structure

Expect a higher rate than an institutional file, a larger down payment or more equity, and lender fees. Credit is not the only input — income stability and total debt ratios matter as much, and improving one of those can move the pricing more than a modest change in score would.

Placing the file is step one, not the end

The point of an alternative mortgage is to stop the bleeding and create a runway. We set a twelve-to-twenty-four month plan alongside it: which balances to clear first, which accounts to keep open, what a lender will want to see at renewal. Then we diarise the renewal and work it.

Applying to lender after lender on your own is counterproductive — each application can leave a mark. Presenting one well-prepared file to the right lender is the alternative.