Mortgage after an IVA: what lenders look for

How long after an IVA can you get a mortgage?

There is no fixed waiting period. While the IVA marker is still on your credit file, some lenders will not consider an application, and the ones that do may be specialist lenders rather than the high street.

Every lender sets its own criteria, so nobody can promise you a date. What is true across the market: lenders look closely at your record since completion.

How we help

We introduce you to partners from our panel. This guide helps you understand the landscape before that introduction and know what to expect.

What mortgage lenders look at after an IVA

Every lender sets its own criteria, but a few things carry weight.

• Deposit: each lender sets its own deposit requirement, so we do not quote a figure.
• Affordability: your income and outgoings face the same checks as any other borrower.
• Your record since the IVA: lenders look at whether you have made clean, on-time payments since completion.
• The marker on your file: while the IVA shows on your credit file, lenders who check it will see it. The marker leaves six years from the date your IVA started, or on your completion date if the arrangement ran longer.
• Questions about past insolvency: some application forms ask whether you have ever been insolvent, and if a form asks, you must answer truthfully even after the marker has gone.

Why a specialist broker matters

The lenders who consider applicants with an IVA on their file may not deal with the public directly: you reach them through a mortgage broker. A specialist who works with adverse credit every day knows which lender fits your circumstances and deposit, so you apply where your circumstances are more likely to fit a lender's criteria instead of collecting hard searches on the file you have worked to rebuild.

That is exactly why we introduce you to a specialist rather than pointing you at a comparison site.

Get your completion certificate and reports ready

An underwriter will not treat your IVA as finished until your file and paperwork say so. That means two jobs before any application.

First, your completion certificate from your insolvency practitioner. It can take a few weeks after your final payment, and sometimes longer.

Chase it if you are planning to buy. Second, your credit reports: check all three agencies show the IVA as completed with the right dates and every included debt at a zero balance, because an out-of-date report can undo the work you have put in at the wrong moment.