The world of mortgages is full of myths and misconceptions. A massive one that we hear is that you can’t get a mortgage as a first-time buyer if you’ve got bad credit.

This is far from the truth. Although it is harder for you to get a mortgage if you have bad credit, it’s nowhere near impossible. Having a bigger deposit is one of the main things that will help you get a mortgage if you are a first-time buyer and have bad credit. Usually, you would need to put down in the region of five or 10% to buy your first home. However, suppose you’ve had defaults, missed payments, or CCJs on your credit report. In that case, you need to put down in the region of 15 to 25% deposit as a minimum.

When it comes to the type of lenders that will lend if you are a first-time buyer with bad credit, it is unlikely you will find a high street lender that will lend to you if you’ve had missed payments or credit issues in the past.

You would likely need a niche lender specializing in lending to people who’ve had bad credit due to the lender taking a higher risk; because of the proof that you have not kept up with payments, they will be charging you more for the interest on the mortgage.

However, just because you’ve got bad credit now and you’re paying a higher interest rate at the beginning of your mortgage, it doesn’t necessarily have to stay that way for the entire length of the term. So if you’ve had credit issues and they are four to five years ago, by the time you’ve got this mortgage, and you can show you’re good at keeping up your payments, you’ve been paying your mortgage, you’re not falling behind on any of your other commitments. Once your mortgage term expires the fixed-rate period, you can remortgage away from the impaired credit lender and look for more of a high street lender that may be able to offer you a better rate at the time.