Mortgages after missed payments, defaults or arrears

Most high-street mortgage lenders use a hard credit scorecard. One missed mortgage payment in the last 24 months, a single CCJ over £500, or a default in the last 36 months will typically generate an automatic decline regardless of the rest of the application. That is a policy choice, not a regulatory one. A separate group of FCA-regulated specialist lenders (Pepper Money, Vida, Together, Kensington, Bluestone, Foundation, Precise, MBS Lending, Buckinghamshire BS, Norton Home Loans) operate on manual underwriting and price the case rather than decline it.

The market for adverse-credit mortgages has matured significantly since the 2008 cycle. Specialist rates are no longer punitive. A borrower with a few historic missed payments and a stable income today can expect to pay perhaps 0.5-1.5% over a clean-credit equivalent rate, not the 3-4% premium that was common a decade ago. As the adverse event ages, the rate gap closes, and after 24-36 months of clean conduct most borrowers can refinance back onto a near-prime product.

Doulton's role on an adverse-credit case is twofold. First, source the lender whose policy fits the specific credit profile. Different lenders care about different things - some are strict on mortgage arrears but relaxed on CCJs, others are the reverse. Second, package the application with the right narrative so the underwriter understands the context, the cause, the cure and what has changed since.