Bad Credit Mortgage Lenders

If your credit score isn’t perfect, many mortgage lenders have a policy not to lend to you. Most banks and mortgage companies prefer you to have a shiny credit rating. But that’s not always possible. Life happens.

Even if you do have a low credit score you could still have options. It’s a myth that if you have bad credit, it’s impossible to get a mortgage. Some mortgage providers won’t approve your application with a poor credit score, but there are plenty of specialist lenders who are more flexible. 

We’ve made a list of mortgage lenders prepared to deal with applicants with low credit scores. Many of the bad credit mortgage lenders in this list are our partners, meaning we work with them every day to get mortgages for people who don’t fit the traditional mould.

If you want to find out your options for a mortgage with adverse credit, get in touch to speak to one of our friendly experts.

What is a specialist mortgage lender?

Specialist lenders don’t rely on computerised checklists for their lending criteria, and specialise in offering more bespoke mortgages, often underwritten especially for you and your specific situation. 

Specialist mortgage providers consider people on a case-by-case basis. They have in-depth knowledge of getting mortgages for people in certain financial circumstances, for example, who have bad credit issues or are self-employed. 

Quite often, specialist lenders aren’t the big names you know like the mainstream high-street banks. Their businesses aren’t set up the same as the big banks, so they can’t deal with the volume of customers in the same way. But it means they can be more specialised, and offer a more tailored mortgage product for your unique situation. 

Here’s our list of several UK bad credit mortgage lenders who offer a more specialised mortgage service for people who have bad credit. These mortgage providers are more likely to be able to help you if you have a fair, poor or very poor credit rating. 

What mortgage lenders are available for people with bad credit?

If you have a low credit score, you’ll probably need a specialist bad credit mortgage lender. They're often the only ones who’ll be willing to offer you a mortgage.

Our Mortgage Experts have great relationships with the following bad credit mortgage lenders, so they can look at your situation and work out which provider is most likely to accept you.

1. Pepper Money

Pepper Money is a flexible lender that offers mortgages for poor credit. Their lending criteria is ‘designed to suit people in interesting situations’. They’re open to considering applicants who have faced financial problems and who are self-employed and have a complex income. 

2. Bluestone Mortgages

Bluestone Mortgages is a specialist bad credit mortgage provider who rejects the automated approach to mortgages. Instead of using automation, they consider applications on a case-by-case basis. They want to help more people own their own home. So they’ve designed a specialised range of bad credit mortgages for people that don't fit the traditional profile that high street banks want. They treat customers as individuals and make decisions based on their circumstances and not their credit score.

Bluestone is one of our partners. They’re flexible with their lending criteria and won’t judge you from your credit score alone.

3. Vida Homeloans 

Vida Homeloans is a specialist mortgage lender who understands that life is never a straight line. And that now more than ever, people need a mortgage lender that can react and respond to the financial complexity that we all face. They believe in second chances. And don’t judge people by their credit scores.

They use behavioural data and cutting-edge technology to simplify the tricky stuff and process bad credit mortgage applications. 

4. Kensington Mortgages

Kensington Mortgages is a specialist mortgage lender that’s experienced in all kinds of complex situations. They use experienced underwriters to make sure your mortgage is completely tailored to you and your unique situation.

Kensington won the What Mortgage Awards 2020 for ‘Best Specialist Lender’. They’re one of our trusted specialist lender partners, and we work with them daily to get mortgages for even the most complex situations, including self-employed and bad credit mortgages.

5. MBS Lending

MBS Lending is a specialist mortgage lender who considers a wide range of applicants and is open to lending to people with a poor credit rating, whatever the reason.

6. Buckingham Building Society 

Buckingham Building Society is a specialist bad credit mortgage lender suitable for people who have had financial difficulties in the past. They’re open to discussing specific issues and personal circumstances and always aim to make the application process as simple as possible. 

7. Aldermore

Aldermore offers fixed rates up to five years, which means your payments will stay the same rate even while you rebuild your credit rating. They'll also consider mortgage applications if you’re on a debt management plan.

8. Kent Reliance

Kent Reliance is a banking services provider who’ll consider mortgage applications from people with adverse credit.

9. Darlington Building Society

Darlington Building Society is a UK-based building society who's open to mortgage applications from people with all kinds of adverse credit or a low credit score.

10. Foundation Home Loans

Foundation Home Loans is a specialist mortgage lender who really understands different financial situations. They believe that just because you have had financial issues in the past, doesn’t mean you’ll have them in the future, so they'll be willing to help if you’ve struggled with credit issues.

Bad credit mortgage calculator

Bad credit doesn’t have to be a barrier to homeownership. If you want to figure how much you can borrow with a low credit rating, use our Bad Credit Mortgage Calculator.