Bad Credit Remortgage

Get in touch for a free, no-obligation chat about how we might be able to help you.

Get in touch

1 Step 1

Bad Credit Remortgage (Part 1)

Christian Duncan explains the process of remortgaging if you have bad credit.

Can you remortgage with bad credit?

Bad credit like a default, a county court judgment (CCJ), an IVA or anything else doesn’t necessarily stop you from remortgaging.

Sometimes people tell us they’ve got bad credit, but what they actually mean is they’ve got a lot of credit. That’s often why they want to remortgage, to reduce their debts. You can remortgage either way – with bad credit or a lot of credit.

How can I remortgage with bad credit?

If you’ve got a lot of credit, we’ll often go through that line by line – to see what the credit is and what the repayments are. If you’ve got bad credit in terms of CCJs and defaults, we’ll have a look at the details to understand your chances of being accepted at reasonable rates.

Can you be declined a remortgage with bad credit? Does it depend on those bad credit types?

You can be declined for any remortgage. Bad credit isn’t normally a reason why clients are declined. We will research the case before submitting the case and spend time with the client to make sure we find the right lender for them.

The repayments on your credit are important. Somebody might be spending a lot of money per month in paying these debts down, and a remortgage could put them in a better financial position month on month.

With bad credit such as CCJs and defaults, we need to look at the current mortgage rate, which might be with a high street lender. It could be that moving you to a specialist lender for bad credit could cost you more, as the interest rates could be significantly higher.

A second mortgage or a secured loan could be a better solution in that situation – you can stay with the high street lender on an attractive interest rate, and just take out a little bit of extra money with a specialist on a secured loan.

Can you get a remortgage after bankruptcy or with a CCJ, IVA or default?

Yes, you can. At the time of recording in September 2025, somebody who’s been bankrupt is likely to need a 30% deposit to purchase a home, or if they are remortgaging, they would need to leave 30% equity in their home.

If the bankruptcy was five or 10 years ago, it probably won’t make a big difference. It’s the same with CCJs, defaults and IVAs – the registration date is key.

Can you remortgage with a debt management plan?

You can, and I’ve just had an offer come through for a client with one. You can remortgage, whether that’s to change rate or borrow some more money, and keep your debt management plan in place. That’s perfectly acceptable.

A lot of people want to remortgage to pay the debt management plan off, and that can often save money. You can sometimes negotiate a discount with a debt management company if you can raise money to clear it. We’ve just done that for a client.

Speak To An Expert

Whether it’s your first time, moving home, investing or just looking for a better rate we would love to hear from you.

What deals and rates are available if you are remortgaging with bad credit?

That’s probably one of the first questions our clients ask, but it’s difficult to answer because interest rates and deals are moving all the time. They’re always subject to a client’s circumstances and credit report.

Depending on the severity and how recent the bad credit is, you may pay more in interest than with a high street lender that has the most competitive rates on the market. But normally you’re doing that for a reason.

If you’re just looking for a new deal without borrowing any more money, but you’ve now got a couple of CCJs, it’s probably best to stay with your current lender.

It depends what you want to achieve. Sit down with a mortgage broker and let us do all the legwork and come back to you with advice on that.

Are there many bad credit remortgage lenders?

There are a lot of lenders whose bread and butter is bad credit – that’s how they make their living. They’ll offer remortgages with bad credit and purchases with bad credit.

On a purchase, if it’s the right thing for the client, they might take a two-year fix. At the end of those two years they might start edging towards the high street or a building society for a more attractive interest rate.

It’s the same on the remortgage front. If a client needs to go to a specialist, hopefully it’s a short-term fix.

Is it better to improve my credit rating before remortgaging? How do I do this?

It depends what stage you’re at. If you’ve just taken a new mortgage out with a remortgage due in two years, there are things you can do now. Make sure you’re on the electoral register, you’re reducing your committed expenditure and keeping up with all your payments.

But if you’ve just had a letter through the door saying your remortgage is due and you’ve already got bad credit, it’s a bit too late to start improving your chances with the high street.

Either way, sit down with a broker, get your credit report and all your documents together and let’s have a look at it. We would talk through your options – both right now and also after six months, to give you time to improve your credit score.

How do I apply for a remortgage with bad credit?

Whether it’s a purchase or a remortgage with bad credit, we’re going to need to see a copy of your credit report. We’d get a breakdown of what’s happened in the past, how we can fix it and what to do for the future.

We do that because the lender’s probably going to raise the same questions to understand your situation. In terms of process, it’s pretty much the same. We might just spend a little bit more time with you face-to-face or over the phone, to identify the right mortgage.

What else do we need to know about a bad credit remortgage?

We’ve covered most of it. As we mentioned, second charge mortgages and secured loans can be a great way of remortgaging with bad credit – whilst keeping an attractive interest rate with your current lender.

We could potentially do a whole episode on that at another time, but it might also be something to discuss with your mortgage broker.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP WITH YOUR MORTGAGE REPAYMENTS.