A past bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), or County Court Judgment (CCJ) can feel like a permanent black mark against ever owning a home again. In reality, the specialist end of the UK mortgage market exists specifically to serve borrowers in exactly this position — though timing, evidence and expectations all matter.
How lenders generally view these events
Most mainstream lenders will decline an application with a recent bankruptcy, IVA or significant CCJ, but a genuine market of specialist lenders assesses these cases individually, generally focusing on how long ago the event occurred, whether it's been resolved (discharged or satisfied), and your financial conduct since.
Bankruptcy: typical considerations
| Time since discharge | General lender approach |
|---|---|
| Undischarged | Very few, if any, lenders will consider an application |
| 0-3 years post-discharge | Specialist lenders only, likely higher rates and larger deposit required |
| 3-6 years post-discharge | Wider specialist and some near-prime options open up |
| 6+ years post-discharge | Increasingly close to mainstream criteria, subject to a clean record since |
These are general patterns, not fixed rules — individual lender policy varies, so always confirm your specific position with a broker rather than assuming a fixed timeline applies universally.
IVAs: what typically matters
For an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, lenders typically want to see the IVA has been fully completed (not just ongoing with payments up to date), alongside evidence of a stable financial position since. Some specialist lenders will consider applicants during an active IVA in narrower circumstances, though this is a smaller and more restrictive part of the market.
County Court Judgments (CCJs)
What deposit and rate to expect
Specialist lenders serving borrowers with a history of bankruptcy, IVA or CCJs typically require larger deposits than mainstream lending — often 15-25% or more depending on the severity and recency of the event — and charge higher interest rates to reflect the additional risk. These terms generally improve the further you are from the event and the cleaner your record has been since.
Steps to strengthen your position
- Obtain your discharge or completion certificate and any documentation confirming the event has been fully resolved.
- Build a clean credit record since — on-time payments on any credit you do hold matter significantly to specialist underwriters.
- Check your credit report to confirm the event is recorded accurately and, where relevant, marked as satisfied or discharged.
- Save the largest deposit realistically achievable, since a larger deposit widens your lender options and can improve the rate on offer.
- Work with a broker experienced in adverse credit cases, since lender appetite in this space varies enormously and changes over time.
Why applying to the wrong lender can set you back
Applying speculatively to a mainstream lender unlikely to accept your circumstances results in a hard credit search that itself can make subsequent applications look less favourable. A specialist broker's main value here is steering you toward lenders genuinely likely to consider your specific situation, minimising unnecessary declined applications.
Worth reading next: our guide on Remortgaging with Bad Credit: Your Options Explained, and Mortgages with Adverse Credit History: A Practical Guide.
Our free Mortgage Affordability Calculator can help you check this against your own figures.
The bottom line
A past bankruptcy, IVA or CCJ makes getting a mortgage more complicated, but rarely impossible over time. The specialist end of the market exists precisely for these circumstances, and your position generally improves the further you get from the event with a clean record since — a broker experienced in this area is one of the most valuable resources available to you.